


Haven And Home

by inenochian (orphan_account)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Case Fic, Charlie Ships It, Creature Castiel, Demon Deals, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, F/F, Happy Ending, Hunter Castiel, M/M, Marriage, Protective Dean Winchester, Witch Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-07-26 10:50:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 35,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7571356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/inenochian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When John sends Dean to hunt a vampire nest all by himself, Dean is not suicidal, But, He's also not going to ask Sam for help after the kid's found a way out. So, He does the next best thing he can think of, He calls Bobby.<br/>Only, he doesn't think that Bobby would bring a Half-witch half-angel sex god with him. Not that Dean's complaining or anything.</p><p>Previously named, 'Benediction'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Castiel

Dean was tired, hungry, and if he was true to himself, even a little bit angry. Because it had been a terrible hunt, with his father repeating the same instructions every 2 minutes. It wasn't John's fault. The man was just getting old. Perfectly understandable. It still didn't really give him the right to treat Dean like a 5-year-old.

  
Dean himself managed to get clawed by the werewolf just deep enough that it would require stiches, which just made John more angry because _G_ _oddamn it, Dean! We can't_ _afford to go to the hospital!_   'Well. news flash!' Dean thought, 'If you don't want me to get killed, next time think before making your own son the bait without even asking him.'  
When they went back to the motel, John left for the nearest bar almost immediatly, leaving Dean to stich his own wounds. And if Dean passed out a few times during the process, well, what else do you expect from a man trying to stich his own body together. The treatment itself was far from what was clinical. He used rum as a diesinfectent, and the thread was old and slight frayed and not to mention incredibly itchy. He just hoped the wound wouldn't get infected.

  
His Dad must have come back sometime after Dean passed out the 5th time, because when Dean next woke up, John was on the next bed, laptop propped up, looking for the next hunt. The man looked half dead, to be quite honest, and Dean doubted he had slept at all last night. He groaned and got out of bed, taking a deep breath for the pain that would come with a shower. By the time he got out, his Dad was packing his duffel. Dean stifled a sigh,  
"Were to next?" He asked as casually as he could.

  
"I am going to Colorado. It seems like a salt and burn. You are going to California. There's a Vampire's nest."

  
"I can't handle a whole nest by myself, Dad." John looked at him as if he was stupid.

  
"It's in California. Get Sam to help you." His tone as final, and before Dean could even breath another word, The man was out of the door and in his truck.

  
_Guess who's paying for the motel. Again._

  
Dean wasn't going to call Sam. The kid was finally out and Dean wasn't going to ruin his life all over again. But, he wasn't suicidal either. Dammit, He should really start socializing more in the hunter's community. At the moment, There was only one more person he could count on.

  
He called Bobby.

  
"Singer's Salvage." The voice was not Bobby's. It was too young and too deep and just too _nice_ to be Bobby's.

  
"Um... who're you?"

  
"Oh. Um, It depends on who you are. For example, If you are John Winchester, which I highly doubt because you haven't really cursed yet, I can't tell you my name."

  
"Why not?"

  
"Because I promised Bobby."

  
"Well, I am Dean Winchester, so now tell me, who the hell are you?"

  
"Ah, There is the profanity. Guess it runs in the family."

  
Before Dean could say anything else, there was shuffling, a bit of muffled conversation and a loud _Smack_ followed by an _Oww_ and then Bobby was on the line with a gruff ' _Dean_ '.

  
"What the hell, Bobby? Who's the new guy?"

  
"Never you mind, ya' idjit. Why did'ja call anyway?" Dean rolled his eyes, but let it go. They'll talk about this later.

"Can you hunt? Dad just left for Colorado leaving a Vampire nest all to myself."

"A whole damn nest? What is that idiot thinking?"

"He told me to ask Sam for help, but, you know I ain't doing that, Bobby." He heard Bobby sigh on the other end,

"Where are you?"

"The hunt is in California. I am driving their now."

"Fine. We'll meet you there." Before Dean could ask who this We was, Bobby had hanged up. Dean sighed, packed his own bag and got on the road after checking out of the motel.

When Dean settled into the new motel, the first thing he did was walk around town, It was a Sunday, which means all kinds of people would be out and about, office workers, college students, vampires, who knows. He entered the public library after a while, needing a bit more information on the missing people, and his motel didn't really have WiFi, so he had to do it old school. He was halfway through collecting all the newspapers going back to 2007, when his phone rang again.

"Dean Winchester."

"Dean, this is Castiel. I mean, uh, the guy you spoke to at Bobby's." There was a pause. "Bobby wants to know where you are."

"Where's Bobby?" Dean asked in return. What kind of name was 'Castiel' anyway? Damn the curiosity was killing him.

"Um, he is trying to find a parking space."

"I am at the public library. Tell him I'll be here for another 2 or 3 hours or so."

Castiel hung up. Geez, a _see you later_ would have been nice. Either way, Dean walked back to the sitting areas, taking a seat next to his laptop and his now cold cup of coffee, after another half an hour of useless researching, Bobby showed up, and behind him was... well, Castiel.

The guy was around Dean's age, though his voice sounded a bit more mature. He had a severe case of bed head, or, as Dean liked to call it, sexy-wind-blown-perfectly-scattered-every-where-hair, With high cheekbones and a jaw line sharp enough that it could cut through diamonds, the guy was drop-dead-cremated-and-soul-at-rest gorgeous.

Not to mention his eyes, Man, those eyes would need a whole thesis just on their colour. They were blue, but not. Light enough to not be cobalt, but, dark enough to not be the colour of the sky, more like the sea right after the sunset but, then again, not, maybe more like forget-me-not-blues blue? Nah. Dean squinted his own eyes a bit, maybe a bit like-wait was that grey? Did he just see a bit of grey in those blues? _Holy shit is this guy for rea-_

"What the hell are you staring at, ya' idjit?" Dean's eyes flew back to Bobby, The old man looked angry, a bit confused, but, mostly angry.

"N-nothing. Bobby, absolutly nothing."

"Bobby, you need to calm down, I can sense hostility when there is one, and right now, It's only coming from you." And Dean's eyes were back to Cas. _Castiel. Cas_. Those incredible blue eyes were boring into his, and then after what felt like an eternity, he smiled.

Dean was pretty sure he was blushing like a school-girl.

"Hello, Dean. My name is Castiel." The guy extended his hands, and Dean's met his excitedly. He gave Cas a charming smile, maybe a bit too flirty and asked them both to sit down. Before Dean could even try to begin to talk about the hunt (Which honestly didn't seem that important anymore), Bobby spoke,

"Castiel here, ain't human." Dean's smile dropped.

"What do you mean?" Dean's eyes were on Bobby's, but, he could see Cas' head drop, staring at the table with all his concentration.

"He is half-witch half-angel."

"Bobby-" It's a good thing Bobby cut him off, because, Dean had no idea what he was going to say.

"Here me out before you say anything. Castiel is a good guy. Hasn't harmed anything human or harm-less. He was raised by hunters because both his parents abandoned him. He has nowhere to go, and I have taken him under my wing, if you'll have it. The boy is like my son. Just like you and Sam, and, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell your Dad, for reasons known to both of us. Castiel is an asset to the hunter community with his powers, but, I'd understand if you don't want him here. I'd be dissapointed as hell, but, I'd understand. Either way, I ain't abandoing him. Not now, not ever."

"Okay."

"Look, I kn- What?" Bobby blinked at Dean, Dean smiled. Bobby really needed to chill out.

"Okay, Bobby. If you trust the guy, I do too. I've met my own fair share of bad-guys-turned-good in the buisness. But, you were right in not telling Dad, he wouldn't listen."

"Woah. Okay, That was easier than I thought." Dean shook his head, still smiling.

"I am not Dad, Bobby. You raised me better than that." Dean said, and he could see Bobby trying hard to hide his smile, but, a twitch gave it away.

"Um." Both of them turned to Castiel, "Now that we have established no body is going to kill me, not that you could, even if you tried, but, Dean, Can I ask why you aren't at the hospital with a wound like that?" Dean blinked, for a moment thinking he was shirtless, but no, he was wearing a shirt, and he wasn't bleeding either,

"What kind of wound is it boy?"

"A claw slash, deep enough to require stiches." Cas said before Dean could open his mouth, and then scrunched his nose in that adorable way that Dean most definitly did not want to snap a picture of, "Those are horrible stiches."

"Hey!" Dean protested, "Give me some credit, man, Did them by myself."

"Yourself? Where the hell was your father, boy?!" Dean shrugged, not wanting to tattletale. Bobby sighed and got up,

"Anyways, let's go back to the motel. Castiel can heal you there."

"Heal? You can heal people?" Cas shrugged, a bit embaressed,

"Half-angel and all." He said and Dean smiled, huge. "That's awesome. But wait. What about the nes-"

Cas shrugged again, now looking really embarresed, "I know where it is. half-witch and all."

Dean came around to stand right beside Cas, he clapped him on the shoulder, still smiling like christmas came early,

"You're awesome." He said.


	2. The Devil's Son

In the drive back to the motel, Dean learned more about Castiel's past. It wasn't a secret, but even he, (as emotionally stunted as he was) could tell it was something exteremely hard to talk about.

"My mother, after giving birth to me, pretty much left me in the basement. If it wasn't for the hunter who had come to kill her, I wouldn't really be here."  
Castiel spoke with what sounded like practised detachment, As if what happened wasn't about him but, some random dude in a random place in a fairy tale. He spoke like he talked of it a lot, and it took a moment for Dean to realize that he probably did. Most hunters would want the back story, in as much detail as possible, to even consider to work with him.

"Cas, you really don't have to. Bobby trusts you so I do too, man. Don't talk about things you don't want to talk about." Castiel nodded, but, his face was still grim.

"In that case, I should still tell you just one more thing." He said, but, looked hesitant. It must be important though, so Dean nodded.

"The name of the angel, my father." There was a pause, "My father was- is- um... Lucifer."

The car swerved a bit, Bobby winced, Cas looked down at his lap in shame and Dean stopped the car at the side of the road, not even trying to pay attention to driving.

"You are, quite literally, the Devil's son?!"

There was increduility in Dean's voice, but, no malice, That little fact helped Castiel push through the rest of the explanation.

"Yes, but, I've never really seen him, much less met him. I wouldn't even know if it weren't for my mother, who, if she did nothing, atleast ingrained my father's name in my brain. I am not evil, nor will I ever be as long as I can help it. You have to underst-"

"Cas. Cas, Calm down. You're rambling." When Dean's eyes met those incredibly blue ones, he could see the full blown panic in them. He could see the fear, the past rejections, could see the vulnerability and the hurt, no matter how well duisguised it was, it was all there.

"Hey, calm down, buddy. I'm not running away. Infact, if it makes you feel any better, and don't tell my dad, but, I've got the King of Hell on speed dial."

Castiel looked at him then, really looked at him, all wide eyed and liquid blue, The panic was gone, replaced by disbelief, which quickly gave way to awe, and they stared at each other for so so long, the car was forgotten, Bobby in the back seat was forgotten, hell, Dean couldn't even remember why he was where he was.

"Thank you." Castiel whispered, as if speaking louder would break the moment. Dean grinned, huge, Because look at him, Cas was the definition of innocence. And even though he was strong, looking at Dean like that, with so much uncensored joy, Dean could almost believe for a second that Cas wouldn't be able to hurt a fly even if he wanted to.  
Turns out, words didn't need to be said to break the moment, just a really hard kick at the back of their seat from Bobby was more than enough. Both of them yelped, almost in sync and turned to look at the road in front of them.

"Drive, ya' idjit. We haven't gotten all day."

 

The vampires, surprisingly, weren't hanging out in an abandoned werehouse like most of them did. Instead, apparently, they owned a nightclub. So, they did what any wise hunters would do, They went undercover.

"Do you have a machete, Cas?" Castiel looked at him and shook his head.

"I don't need one." He said and showed a silver blade, about the size of his fore-arm and sharp.

"No offense dude, but, that doesn't look like it could chop somebody's head off."

"It's an angel blade." Cas replied. Right, cause everything just makes so much sense now. Dean chose not to ask. It's not like Cas hadn't done this before, and besides, if the blade does turn out to be a bust, Cas could still use spells and could at least save himself.

"Alright, let's go. See ya later, Bobby." Bobby grunted 'take care ya' idjits' and then they were on the road.

The drive to the night club was tense. It was their first time partnering together and Dean really didn't know what to say.

"Have you done this before? Partnering?" Castiel asked him. Breifly, his mind went back to his dad, but, he shook that off. Hunting with John Winchester wasn't as much as a partnership as it was a dictatorship. Their arrangement was simple. Dean would play bait or serve as a distraction while John tried to kill the moster before the monster killed Dean.

"Not really." Cas nodded beside him, "Me neither."

The silence then continued till they reached the club. Both of them got out and Dean was just about to enter the waiting line when Cas touched his shoulder.

"There are about 6 of them in there. I can tell. We'll both take on 3 each. Keep an eye out for the other as well. Just in case either of us need back up." Dean nodded. That was easy enough and seemed pretty fair. When they entered the club, the place was thrumming with people. Dean grabbed Cas' hand and pulled him flush into himself. Only so that they could talk without yelling. Yeah.

Dean gave himself a moment to enjoy the hard body pressed against his, puffs of warm air hitting his neck from where Cas was breathing hard, then he cleared his throat, all buisness again.

"Activate the smoke detectors." He told Cas. "The bathrooms are at the back." Castiel nodded, his black hair brushing Dean's jaw line, If that wasn't enough to make his breath hitch, Cas squeezed his hand, a silent _good luck_ , before he all but vanished into the crowed. Dean took a deep breath and walked towards the bar. The tender was young, maybe early twenties, all fresh face and gangly limbs. Dean ordered a beer and turned around to face the crowed. He searched for booths at the back, but, caught Castiel making out with one of the girls instead. _What is that guy doing?_ Dean was about to give him a piece of his mind before, the guy broke it off himself, giving the girl a cheeky wink and entering the Male washroom.

Great. Dean partnered up with one guy for the first time in 26 years of his life, and the guy couldn't keep it in his pants even during a case. Dean rolled his eyes and scanned the crowed again. There, the darkened booth in the corner, the man was way too pale even in the dim lighting, and had way too many women surrounding him. _Found one._  
It took 3 seconds for the fire alarm to start ringing, and suddenly, there was water everywhere. People where screaming, and Dean saw the guy stand up from where he was clearly sucking someone off, he looked angry. Dean jumped on the otherside of the bar when the bar tender ran off and ducked. He wasn't hiding yet, but, he was out of their immediate sight.

After five minutes, all the 6 vampires had gathered together in a circle, all of them drenched and fuming. It would take another 10 minutes for the fire brigade to arrive and they really needed to kill all of them before that. _Where was Cas?_

"Somebody delibretly did this." One of the vampires spoke. Oh shit. Dean really didn't think this far. Of course Cas would get caught. Dammit he was an idiot.

"Rana, Go check the washrooms, Paul, got to the office." Both of them ran off, and in another 2 minutes, Rana came back, dragging an unconsious Cas from behind his collar.

"Found him passed out in the washroom." She said. _Passed out? Why the hell was Castiel passed out?_ Dean would have been so confused if he hadn't caught Castiel's eyes just then. The guy looked up, gave Dean a small smile and winked like the cheeky bastard he was all in two seconds.

Cas groaned, well, fake groaned, and the woman, Rana, hoisted him up like a rag doll, he looked at her, his eyes not focusing anywhere in particular, before grinning wildly and yelling,

"PRETTY!" Oh. My. God. He was acting drunk. He was actually acting like he was high and hammered. Dean would have laughed if he wasn't afraid for the guy's life. Rana looked at him, frowned and opened Cas' mouth, sniffed it before recoiling.

Everything made so much sense. The guy was a complete genius. He kissed the girl to get the stink of alcohol in his mouth without actually getting drunk. Holy crap, Dean could have kissed him right then and there.

"He's drunk. And high." Cas grinned, and draped himself all over the woman.

"HIGH!" He yelled and Dean frowned when Cas' eyes met his for a split second. "DEHIGH!"

High? Dehigh? Dehi.. hide. HIDE!

Dean ducked down, and pulled himself under the bar where all the shot glasses were kept, briefly he heared Cas ask the woman if he could buy her a drink.

"Why not?" Rana asked, looking at all the others, "He's out of his mind and he's hot. Just my type."

There foot steps were getting closer, Cas making sure to stumble now and then. They reached the bar and Dean could hardly stop chuckling.

"Hey dude!" Cas slurred, knocking at the marble under which Dean was hiding, Dean bit his lips to not laugh, "I'll have a sex on the beach. And for the pretty lady right here..." There was a pause and Dean got up, "Decapitation sounds fun." 

Rana's eyes bugged out, just in time for her head to fall off. The rest of the vamps were running towards them like their life depended on it. Dean jumped to the other side again, and just had the time to look at Cas' grin before they were both surrounded. If it would have anyone else, the positions would have been a complete disaster, They were standing too close, not only to each other, but, also the to bar behind them. As it was, Cas fought with his left hand while Dean with his right and they covered more ground rather than bump into each other. The Vampires didn't stand a chance. Dean took out three of them and was just in time to see Cas take out the last one. And yes, that blade looked completley useless, but, the cut was so precise and clean, for a minute, Dean was jealous.

They finished cleaning up just in time for a Fire brigade to arrive. and just when they were burning the bodies, Dean walked over to stand beside Cas.

"You were a freaking genius right there." He said and Cas grinned. "The same goes for you. For a second, I was scared you wouldn't get what I was doing. But, you have a quick mind." Now it was Dean's turn to grin like a 5 year old.

"We made a good team, didn't we?" Cas nodded. "The best."


	3. The Power Duo

It wasn't until Dean was in the Impala on the way back to the motel and calling John to tell him about the hunt did he realize what this meant. The case was a one time thing. _Him and Cas were a one time thing_. Now Cas will go back to wherever Cas came from and Dean will have to go back to living like a bait until his Dad made that one faithful mistake and he died.

John picked up at the third ring, just as Dean was having another stomach-churning realization.

_He might not even see Cas again._

"Hello, Dean?"

"Hey, Dad. Yeah, It's me. Listen-"

"Did you complete the hunt?"

"Yes, dad, look-"

"Alright, good. listen son, You are 26 years old now. Old enough to hunt alone if you want to. You have your own car and hunting equipment. And I really won't stop you if you want to hunt solo."

There is a pause while Dean registers the words.

"Did... did Bobby call you?"

Cas, who had been looking out of the window all this time turned to face Dean.

"What? No. Why would he call? Did something happen?"

Dean took a deep breath, keeping his eyes on the road. Of course that was too good to be true. This always happened every 2 to 3 months. John finds someone more interesting to hunt with (usually a chick) and hunts with them until either their partner gets fed up and leaves John, or gets killed because of John's reckless hunting style, After which, John would come back to Dean and tell him how _Their father and son partnerhip_ was much better. _After all, I did teach you all that you know all by myself_.

Man, His father couldn't even apologize to his own son without sounding like a douche.

"Did you meet another chick?"

The silence from the other end was all the answer he needed. His hands were shaking. He put the call on speaker, tossing the phone on the dashboard so that he could grasp the wheel with both of his hands. The last thing he wanted was to get in an accident with Castiel beside him. And maybe he should be embaressed that he was about to have a very hard conversation with his dad in front of pretty much a (hot) stranger, But, then again, If your own father's the Devil, it's not like you have a lot of room to judge. Besides, It was either that or he was going to punch something. And he really couldn't do that to his baby.

"Well, yes actually. Her names Jenna Carter. Wonderful hunter. And she wanted to work with me. And you know how three's a trouble better than anyone-"

"Dad, spare me the speech. I don't care who you hunt with. Just don't get them killed again."

Cas' breath hitched from beside him and without even looking at his face, Dean knew that John was fuming. The adrenaline from the hunt was giving him the courage to speak back to his father, because, no matter how much he hated this about himself, Dean could never actually talk back to his father in his right mind. 

"That is not the way to talk to your father, boy."

"Then please start informing others before you use them as bait."

Castiel stiffened, let out a breath.

"Dean. Think before you talk to me. Anyway, I need to go now." John said with a tight voice before he hung up.

The silence in the car lasted for 3 excruciating seconds before Dean let out a shuddering breath.

"Are you alright, Cas?"

"I should be the one asking you that."

"I'm fine. Pretty used to it actually."

There was another silence, a bit less suffocating.

"I don't really like your father."

Dean laughed, long and hard and maybe there was a sob in there somewhere, hopefully, nobody noticed.

"You can say that again." Dean buried a _I can say the same about yours_. Maybe that was a bit too frank.

 

Bobby was waiting for them with a pizza when they came back. He would have smiled, but, that just wasn't Bobby. Instead, his lips twitched upwards just for a second when he saw that neither of them even had a scratch on themselves.

"I'm guessing the hunt went well?" Dean grinned, making a beeline towards the pizza box,

"You should have seen Cas, Bobby. The guy's a genius." Castiel blushed, and followed Dean to where the pizza was. Dean frowned when he realizd that the pizza had grown cold, but, then Cas tapped it once, and suddenly, it was just the right tempreture.

"Apparently, he is also a portable microwave." Dean said, winking cheekily at Cas who grinned back.

Bobby got up, slapping his thighs in an attempt to wake his legs up.

"Well, I already took a nap. So, I am gonna do some night driving back to Sioux Falls." He said and walked right out without even glancing at either of them.

Castiel hesitated, looking at the door, then at Dean, then at the door again, and Dean knew that if he didn't say anything right this moment, Castiel would just walk right out, and wouldn't that just be a shame? He has the adrenaline to thank for his next words. And he'll probably thank that adrenaline for the rest of his life.

"Hey, Cas?" Dean managed to say just as Castiel was walking out.

"Yes, Dean?" And there was hope in his voice no matter how much he tried to conceal it. It made Dean smile. The ball of nervousness in his stomach seemed to get more and more persistent as seconds passed. It was almost like asking someone if they wanted to go o a second date. As if Dean and Cas' first date would be a vampire hunt. But, then again, there was a bar and some touching and it had been fun. The decapitation and burning bodies can be considered as pointless semantics.

It made sense to Dean in a weird way. Like when he always missed school for hunts, or when he didn't go to the movies when he was invited by his friends because he had to take care of his brother, like when he got his very own shot gun for his 12th birthday because Beyblades and Roller skates won't save you from the real danger. It made sense in a very _This is Dean Winchester's life and thus is completely messed up_ kind of way. So, instead of questioning it, Dean just plunged in head-first.

"Do you wanna hunt together?" God, it was so much like asking someone for prom, it wasn't even funny. But, Cas was grinning even before that Dean had finished putting his sentence together, so, to Dean, It was all good.

"I'm just gonna say good-bye to Bobby." 

And that? That was pretty much a 'yes'.   
  
  



	4. Meeting Sammy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a time gap. For people wondering what happened between Dean and Cas between the time gap, don't worry. All the important mile-stones of their relationship will be written over the upcoming chapters. It keeps the suspense whilst still making it possibe for the pair to be in an established relationship.
> 
> Thanks for reading it for so long. It's my first try at a destiel fanfic, and any kind of feedback is appreciated.

It was exactly 8 months and 42 hunts later that the boys, Dean and Castiel, came back to California again. Dean had completely forgotten to set up a meeting with Sammy the last time he was here, So this time, The first thing he did was text Sammy saying that he was in town.

"Hey, Cas?" Dean spoke, whilst trying to choose which flannel to where as an overshirt.

"Yes, Dean?"

"I am going to be meeting Sammy later. Do you wanna come with?" Dean turned to look at Cas just in time to catch a small smile,

"Is this the next stage of our relationship? Are you introducing me to your family? I have to say, I feel a bit suffocated, man. Gimme some space, Winchester."

"Shut up, Collins." Cas laughed. "I am guessing that's a yes."

"Sure, I'll come meet Sam. As long as there are burgers. If things grow awkward, I need at least something I love."

"Hey, What about me?" Cas looked at him, his expression far too innocent to be authentic.

"What about you?"

"Ass." And then Cas was walking towards him, all thoughts of flannel forgotten, Dean held him by his hips. Cas leaned in to whisper in his ears, _You love my ass_. slightly biting Dean's earlobe for extra emphasis before going to the bathroom leaving Dean alone and slightly sexually frustrated.

There were times when Dean would look at Cas and think, _What did I ever do to deserve someone as incerdible as Castiel Collins?_ Thoughts like those hit him like a frieght train in the middle of the night, when he would snuggle closer, or they would hit him whist he was at a bar, trying to talk to locals and gathering info whilst Cas would act completely hammared (he was good at that) and hustle pool. Dean would be talking to the patrons when there would be a collective groan from the area where Cas was. The man himself would catch Dean's eyes, wink and then make a considrebly difficult shot with flawless perfection. It would be impossibe for Dean to concentrate on anything else after that but Cas as he bent over the table, handled the cue stick with those strong and slim fingers and dunked ball after ball to get the money for their next motel. 

Dean remembered when he had first realized that he loved Cas. He always had the hots for him, seeing that Cas was basically the definition of lazy-morning-sex, But, by the time Dean realized that there were _feelings_ invovled with that attraction, Dean was _ruined_ for everybody else but Cas.

It had started of slow, with Dean not realizing he was being eyed. He would come and go out of bar and clubs without so much as a glance at anybody else. Then he wouldn't notice when he was being flirted with, Threw away napkins with cell numbers without so much as a glance, he didn't realize he hadn't slept with anyone in over a month until it was brought to his attention by Charlie out of all people.

He had been in a pissy mood all day, mostly because Cas had had to go on a date with a woman (For a case). So, he had decided that whilst Cas spent the next 2 hours on a date with a woman he didn't even know, Dean would hang out with Charlie.

5 minutes into their conversation via skype and Charlie was done,

"Geez, when was the last time you got laid, Dean?" Charlie had meant it as a joke of course, But, Dean actually thought about it, It had been over a month, and he felt like a nun. That night, he went to the nearest bar, and vowed to sleep with the first person to show even the tiny bit of interest.

It hadn't worked of course. The ladies didn't stand a chance, The men were just wrong, with skin too tan and eyes too dull, with hair too flat or too styled or too black or not black enough,

It took him 27 minutes to figure who he was comparing all these people to, and when he did, he is only slightly embarresed to admit that he ran away like his behind was on fire.

_Holy Shit, I Love Cas!_ He remembered thinking and remembered feeling so hopeless, because there was no way someone as incredible as Castiel, someone as beautiful and all around perfect, could possibly feel the same. He remembered trying to distance himself and failing, he remembered the forced sex, the unsatisfied flirting and the jealousy that surged through with every person who even looked at Castiel in that way.

He was so glad that he went through the case in Lousiana the way he did. He hadn't stopped feeling all warm and nice ever sice that faithful day 6 months ago.

Now he could think _Holy Shit, I Love Cas!_ and only feel happy because, He must have done something incredible in his previous life, probably something bizzare like stopping the apocalypse or something, Because Cas actually felt the same.

It made falling asleep for more than 4 hours without nightmares as easy as breathing.

 

To Dean, Sam never replied to his text. So, When the guy himself showed up at 12:30 at night, or is it morning? Dean was half asleep and thinking what kind of an ass would knock on anybody's motel door in the middle of the night. So, you can't really blame him that the first thing he did was point a gun at his brother who he had not seen in almost 5 years.

"Dean put that down!" Sam whisper-yelled.

"Sammy? What the hell are you doing here at sleep o'clock?"

"Sleep o'clock?" Sam shook his head, "Anyway, you wanted to meet me, Can I come in?"

"Dude, I am in my boxers, it's 1 o'clock, my boyfriend's sleeping, couldn't you come tomorrow or something? How did you know where I was staying anyway?"  
Sam wasn't listening though. His senses had stopped working somewhere in the middle of the sentence when Dean had said that he had a boyfriend?! Dean sighed and went inside. Since the door was open, Sam decided to follow him. And sure enough, on the single king sized bed, was what would look like a lump of blankets were in not for the black hair peeking out.

Dean was wearing his jeans and a t-shirt, trying to get rid of the sluggishness of his sleep induced brain when Sam spoke.

"You have a boyfriend?! Since when do you even do relationships?!" Atleast the bitch had the decency to whisper.

"Since Cas, Sam. To be precise, since the past 6 and a half months." Sam watched with wide eyes as Dean went over to the bed and tugged at comforter that his boyfriend had wrapped all around him.

"Cas, babe, wake up."

"Shut up, Dean."

"Sammy's here."

"Dean, what time is it?" Dean sighed.

"It's almost one." 

"What time is it for me?" Dean sighed again.

"It's sleep o'clock." There was silence and Dean rolled his eyes. "Fine. Be like that."

Dean took the keys of the Impala and gestured his brother to follow him. Sam did, still partially unable to take his eyes off of the lump on the bed. When Dean shut the door with the softest click possible, Sam burst out.

"How did you meet? It's obvious he knows what you do. Is he a hunter too? Where is Dad? I thought you were hunting with him. Why didn't you tell me? How-"

"Sam, man, How did you even know where I was staying?"

"Huh? You texted me." Sam showed him the text and Dean rolled his eyes when he saw it. The whole thing was so Cas. The complete and proper spellings, punctuatations, not to mention the emoticons.

"Alright. why show up in the middle of the night?"

"I thought you were hunting with dad. And I didn't want to meet him. I knew he would be at a bar somewhere at this time, so, I came now."

"Dad found a new chick to hunt with. Fortunatly, the last time I heard, she was still alive."

"And now will you please tell me about, you and Cas." Dean sighed.

"We met 8 months ago. Over here actually. Dad sent me to take care of a vamp nest. Said I should ask you to help. I wasn't going to do that, So, I asked Bobby, who brought Cas along."

"But, you said you were only dating for 6 months." 

"Geez, Sammy. I am not gonna throw myself all over the guy the first time I meet him, no matter how hot he is."

"Fair enough. So, I wan-" Sam cut off when his phone rang. He saw the caller id and cursed,

"Hey, Jess, ba-" There was screaming on the other end, Dean couldn't hear anything but, he still winced. After what felt like an eternity of screaming from one end and Sam looking like he wanted to die, The girl hung up.

"I need to go now."

"Yeah. I am guessing the morning is not going to be fun for either of us." His brother smiled wryly, they hugged, and Dean was back in the room before Sam even got in his car.  
"I'm going to kill you in the morning." Cas mumbled. Still under the covers.

"I figured." Dean replied, before getting in as well, He wrapped his arms around Cas, pulling him closer till Cas' head lay on his shoulder. Cas snuggled further, pecking Dean's chest and then slept.


	5. The Winchester Curse

Dean wasn't looking forward to the morning. Because Cas was hot. But, he was like a gazzilion times hotter when he actually made an effort to look good. And since Dean had attempted to wake Cas up during 'sleep o'clock' (Jesus, what is he? 5?) He knew Cas would only do two things, either kill him, or torture him till he begged for mercy. And since he couldn't quite kill his own boyfriend no matter how pissed he was, Dean was pretty sure today was going to be simultenously the best and the worst day of his life.

It started off quite tame actually. Dean woke up in time to hear the shower turn off, and being the naive little duckling he was, he thought he could handle it. Only he couldn't. Because he was still half asleep and Cas just had to come out wearing just one of Dean's pajama bottoms ( Because Dean's pants always hung over Cas' hips deliciously). He wasn't wearing a shirt so, The water drops from his messy hair fell slowly, dripping on his neck, gliding down his chest, those barely there abs then down to the hips before disappearing under his pants and oh my god, Dean's mouth was dry and he felt light headed and he really wasn't going to survive this, was he?

Cas looked at him and smiled, that I-am-enjoying-your-pain sadistic smile he usually reserved for demons he was exorcising and came over to where Dean was, close enough that he could smell the warm and the motel soap and the sweetness that was just Cas. He patted Dean's thigh, too close for Dean's comfort if that bastard wasn't going to follow through. He kissed Dean's cheek and went to whisper in his ear,

"Good thing I used up all the hot water." Dean was only half embarresed to say that he _whimpered_ , because, if there was one case in which such an action is justified, it was this.

Cas was pulling away before Dean could reach out, wearing a t-shirt and shrugging on a jacket and Dean wanted to shout, _Why the hell are you putting on more clothes, man?_ But then, Cas was out, probably to bring them breakfast, and Dean had no choice but to take a cold shower and dress up into one of his 'I-am-the-FBI' suits for the interviews. There was no way they wern't splitting up today. Dean can't handle a whole day of smirking sexy Cas especially if Cas was going to tease him at every oppurtunity, so when Cas came back, the first thing that Dean said was,

"You are going to the library and research. I am going to meet the families and sheriff. Got it?" Cas ' lips twitched upwards just for a moment before he put down the food to come over and loop his arms over Dean's neck. Instictively, Dean hands grabbed hold of Cas' hips, There mouths met half way for an inappropriatly soft kiss.

"Alright." Cas murmered, but, Dean could hear the ameusment in his voice. Sexy bastard knew exactly what he was doing to him.

Dean took the car because the library was walking distance and went to the first house on the vic's list. Donna Carly was 35 years old. Died of supposedly a stroke while camping with her husband and their 12 year old son in the near-by woods. She died some 2 weeks ago, but, her husband was already seeing other people (So much for 15 years of marriage) and her son looked happier than ever. The situation was similar in the rest of the cases. The victims' family members were happy, if just a bit spooked. The people themselves had no specific connection, varying in age, sex, economic class or occupation. 

Dean was pretty sure it was a vengeful spirit killing everybody who made their family (or just people in generel?) unhappy. 

It was 2 pm when Dean was done talking to everybody, and all that was left was to go to the campsite where the bodies were found, find the ghost, salt and burn whatever it was that was tying them down, and then have some long over-due dirty time with Castiel. Dean texted Cas, telling him that he'll meet him at the Diner near the motel when Cas was done and drove there for some greasy lunch.

Only, he really didn't expect to run into Sam again. Dean was just sitting there, going over the history of the forest, just in case there were any tragic deaths or murders when his sasquatch of a brother called his name,

"Dean!" Dean looked up just in time to see Sam slide across from him and sit. "I went down to your motel room again, you weren't there."

"Is something wrong?" Sam coming to him two times in 24 hours? Now, that's Supernatural.

"No..um, Not exactly. I kinda really want to talk." There was an edge in his voice that Dean hadn't heard since Sam left for Stanford. Suddenly, The burger wasn't really that appealing. Dean shut his laptop, put it aside so that all his concentration was on his brother.

"Alright. Talk." Sam looked down at his hands, exhaled and looked up again at Dean with one of those puppy-dog eyes.

"I was thinking of proposing."

Dean's breath hitched, back stiffened, He could see Sammy blush, His tall stature curl to make himself small, and Dean realized this is the first time Sammy had said it out loud, and something very similar to pride bloomed in his chest, because, really? He was still the first person Sammy talked to about imporatant stuff like this? Dean was grinning before he even knew it.

"That's great Sam. Honestly, If you think she is the one, then go for it." And that's when Sam just kind of slumped a bit.

"Yeah, that's the problem part." Sam let out a breath. Dean frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"You see, Jess, Her name's Jessica, and I, really haven't been honest with each other recently." Dean sighed, This is why Dad and Mom always fought. It's the same problem Dean had before Cas called bullshit, using the good-old silent treatment, while confiscating all of his music until Dean broke and basically talked about all his insecurities and how it was all too good to be true. The good part though, was that the make-up sex was mindblowing. More so that usual.

"What aren't you telling her, Sammy?" His brother looked sheepish, but, not guilty, so It couldn't really be that bad.

"I didn't really tell her about the hunting." And really, that's understandable, because, no normal person would hear you talk about it and still think you are sane, no matter how much they love you.

"Sammy, That's in the past. It wasn't you anyw-"

"No. Dean, I still am hunting."

"What?! Why?"

"It's not something regular. I am not giving up my education for it. It's just somthing I do on weekends-"

"You are supposed to spend your weekends with your girlfriend, Sammy."

"Yeah, And I would. Really, I would. But, She's been spending almost every weekend with her family.Or so I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Her Dad called me yesterday. He told me that I and her should come visit. Since _neither_ of us had in over a year."

"So... Do you think she is..."

"Cheating on me? I don't know, Dean. We've been dating for 2 years now. I would like to give her the benefit of the doubt."

Dean really didn't know what to say. Relationships really weren't his department. Even though he liked to think he was improving now that he had managed to keep a guy for more than a week without fucking up. I mean, how hard is it anyway? Love a person and don't cheat on them. Occasionally go on dates and have lots of sex. It really wasn't rocket science. Thankfully, his phone rang before the silence could streach on for too long.

"Are you done eating?" Cas spoke for the other side.

"Hello to you too, babe." He could almost see Cas rolling his eyes.

"Meet me at the libarary, Dean. I think I found who we were looking for... Bring me a chocolate thickshake while you're at it. I am starving."

"You know, you should eat healthier than a chocolate thickshake." Dean said before he could stop himself. Sam coughed loudly, trying and failing to cover up a laugh.

"I'll keep that in mind the next time you order Pie." Cas replied, but, Dean could hear the smile in his voice. His lips twitched.

"Whatever. I'll be there in 10."

"Alright." There was a pause. Neither of them hung up, quickly, Dean's eyes darted up to look at Sam to see him looking at Dean in amuesment.

"Love you." Dean said too quickly, but, not quickly enough. because Sam snorted. After hearing the customary 'love you too' he hung up.

"Aww, you two are so cute." Dean could practically see the heart-eyes.

"Shut up, Samantha. Are you going to come with me to the library? Help with some research." Sam shrugged, "Sure, I have nothing to do today anyway."


	6. The Librarian Kink

Dean ordered the thick shake for Cas, hesitated, and ordered a fruit cup too (erupting another 'aww' from Sam) he took his burger and fries to go and left the Diner with Sam on toe. In fifteen minutes they were at the library and Dean had just spotted Cas when he stopped walking.

"Holy shit." He whispered, awed.

"Dean, What is it?" Sam asked, Dean just vaguely guestered to where Cas was sitting.

"That guy? What about him?" 

Dean looked at his brother, wide-eyed, and if he wasn't so unprepared, he would have laughed at how vaguely scared Sam looked.

"That's Cas." Dean whispered. Sam whipped his head back in that guy's direction, He took in the messy hair, the blue eyes, the calm way in which he was reading, the rhythmic tapping of his feet.

"So, what are we doing here?" Sam said at the same time Dean whispered, "He's wearing _The glasses_." Sam looked at his brother, thinking, before realisation struck him like a wrecking ball.

"This is not about your librariran kink is it? Because I am not walking beside my brother who has a boner."

"Sam, He's wearing a vest, and glasses and the tightest pair of pants he owns, The guy looks like walking sex!"

"Oh my god! Dean, what the hell? You've been dating the guy for 6 months!"

"Yeah, but, he usually doesn't make an effort. It's all your fault really."

"How the hell is it my fault?!"

"Because if you hadn't showed up in the middle of the night, I wouldn't have had to wake him up during sleep o'clock, he wouldn't be pissed and I wouldn't be walking around like a sexually frustrated teenager!" Dean whisper-yelled. Sam gaped at him, unsure of what to say. After what seemed like an eternity, Sam swallowed.

"The guy really likes to sleep, huh?" Dean scoffed.

"He didn't before. Dreaded it actually, because of the nightmares, but, He doesn't get them when he sleeps with me, So, I guess he's making up for 26 years of hating it."  
Sam had that look again, the 'My-brother's-relationship-is-so-cute!' look. Dean glared at him, Sam just grinned, shook his head.

"Anyway, I'm ready. Let's go."

"Are you sure you won't just pop a boner in the middle of the library?"

"Shut up, Sam."

The made it to the next shelf before stopping again, This time, It was Sam that grabbed Dean's arm. Dean was about to yell at him when he saw the look on Sam's face. Dean looked back at the tables. Cas was talking to somebody, a girl, blonde and tall, Dean squinted his eyes,

"Is that-"

"Jessica, yeah. What is she doing talking to a complete stranger?"

Cas and Jessica talked, suddenly, Cas grinned, got up and shook her hand. Said something that made her laugh and both of them took out their phones to probably exchange numbers but, Dean doesn't know because his mind is suddenly blank.

_Why is Cas giving his number to a complete stranger?_

"I'll take care of this." Dean murmured to Sam, who was really just frozen in one place. He walked over to where Cas was, and before he could even notice him, Dean went behind him and wrapped his hand around Cas' waist, pulling him flush agianst his chest. Cas yelped, saw who it was, then came willingly,

"Hello, my incredibly faithful and loyal boyfriend of 6 and a half months." Dean greeted and kissed the back of Cas' neck for extra measure, looking at the girl- Jessica- the whole time.

"Um.. Hello, Dean." Cas spoke and turned around, "What are you doing?" He whispered, low enough so nobody could hear them.

"What am I doing? You're the one giving a fairly attractive woman whom neither of us know, and to be honest is not quite as hot as me, your number." Dean whispered back.

Cas blinked, and then, that sadistic grin was back. He pecked Dean on the lips once,

"You're jealous." Dean was about to scoff and deny it, but, Cas kissed him again, longer. "You don't have to be. I know Jessica."

"You do?" Dean asked, his hold loosening. Cas nodded, still looking as smug as ever. That's when Dean notciced the glasses again, Holy shit his boyfriend was hot. He leaned in to kiss Cas again, but, The guy pulled back, taking a step back but, still left his hand on Dean's shoulder.

"We are in public." He said. Dean rolled his eyes, "You should have thought of that before wearing the glasses." Cas grinned again, kissed Dean on his cheek and pulled back all the way.

"You should have thought twice about trying to wake me up at sleep o'clock."

"Aw, come on! You are still on about that! You didn't even wake up!" Cas rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I'll make it up to you tonight. As of now though, where is my milk-shake?" Dean huffed, raised his second hand carrying the milk-shake and the fruit cup in a paper bag.

Cas took the milk-shake, scowled at the fruit cup, but, took that too.

"So, how do you know Sammy's girlfriend?" They both turned to look at where Sam and Jessica were furiously whispering at eash other.

"Sam's girlfriend? I've only met her once. Remember that case I told you about in Montana? The one with the haunted apartment."

"Oh yeah! You said something about a creepy stalker!"

"Hey!" Jessica turned to both of them, her and Sam had been listening on the conversation for a while.

"I didn't say 'A creepy stalker.' I said a very presistent underaged girl who thought I was and I quote, 'Sex on legs'." Cas said, rolling his eyes as if they have had this conversation more that a few times. Dean scowled, "Sammy's girlfriend had hots for my boyfriend. This is going to be fantastic."

"I was fifteen." Jessica said. "And Castiel was all hidden shotguns and motor-bikes. Can you really blame me?"

Great, now Dean can't seem to let go of the picture of 19 year old Cas riding a motor bike wearing leather and boots with a really cool helmet that mused up his hair a million times more. As if Castiel with vest and glasses wasn't enough. He was going to ravish the guy as soon as they were alone.

"Wait, so, Jess knows about hunting?" Sam spoke up for the first time, pale faced and looking as if he's about to faint.

"I did teach her the basics after she got involved in the hunt. Told her to take some self-defense classes, if possible, learn how to shoot and all." Cas replied, looking semi-worried and semi-proud. 

"I've been hunting on my own for a while now." Jess said and looked up at Sam, "When you talk about the family buisness, you mean hunting?"  
Sam nodded. They both stood silent for a while, and then blurted out at the same time,

"Is this what you've been doing on the weekends?" They both nodded, relief evident in both of there faces. That's the moment Dean locked eyes with the librarian who was glaring daggers at them.

"Uh, guys, We are kind of making a scene. Let's go back to the motel and talk there, alright?" Dean said, mostly to Cas who nodded, gave his still untouched food to Dean to gather all the books that he needed to check-out.

"I'll take these idiots to the car. It's just outside, alright?" Cas nodded and went over to the librarian, whos demenour seemed to soften against Cas' soft smile. Dean snorted. That's how it worked. Whenever they went on interviews, Dean made the young people talk by using intimidation (and sometimes flirting) while Cas always wormed to old people's hearts with his winning smile and polite-ness.


	7. Chapter 7

Dean walked to his car, Jess and Sam following him, both of them looking relatively happy. Sam was one hell of a lucky guy. Not only were his girlfriend and he studying in the same college, she understood his lifestyle in a way no other peer would, because it was a part of her lifestyle too. Dean was pretty sure Sam wouldn't be able to score a better person, So, if Sam screwed this up, God help him, Dean will kill him, baby brother or not.

"So, Dean." Jess said once they were seated, "How did you and Castiel start dating?"

Dean laughed, because the memory was one of the happiest for him and one of the most traumatising for Cas. It had been a complete accident. They had been on a hunt, and Dean had been too careless with a Djinn. He hadn't told Cas where he was going because, Djinn's always preferred rare (and powerful) blood, and Cas had an arch-angels' in his. The Djinn caught him off-guard though. He was expecting one, not the whole family. So he ended up in Djinn land for what Cas said was about 3 days even though they were honestly the best months of Dean's subconscious-not-quite-real-dream-life. Cas had been worried sick while Dean had been enjoying his domestic lifestyle with Cas as his husband and with his mum still alive and Sammy with his girlfriend and law degree living next door. Only, they weren't hunting, and all the people they had saved ended up dying, and Dean really couldn't take it, so he did what he always did, He chose other's happiness over his.

When Cas found him, Dean was unconscious, hungry and for all Cas knew, Dead. His hands were shaking so badly, he wasn't able to detect a pulse and was slapping him (not so lightly) instead. When Dean came about, He was being kissed, and he would have stiffened if he hadn't recognised the voice that was speaking against his lips.  
Cas' voice then had been so broken, so small, none of the usual confidence or stability, He was speaking shattered words, a mixture of _I'm sorry's_ and _I love you's_ and _Please come back's._

And really, Dean had never been able to say 'no' to Cas,

So, Dean came back.

He came back for the I love you's.

He remembered Cas' shocked face when Dean finally kissed him back, He remembered the tears in those usually vibrant blue eyes when they finally met Dean's green (very much alive) ones.

He also remembered the slap he got for pulling such a 'stupid and reckless' stunt and He remembered Cas swearing he wasn't going to speak to Dean ever again, which only really lasted till Dean coughed a little, and then Cas was back with the _I'm sorry's_ and _I love you's_. Only, this time it was different because Dean replied back with his own _It's okay's_ and _I love you too's._

All of this happened and he did love the events with all his heart. But, this was about him and Cas and it was for him and Cas so, all he did was laugh and waved his hand in that casual way to indicate it was nothing special even though Dean now had a very special place in his heart for a stinky old abandoned warehouse back in Louisiana.

"It's a long story." He said instead and thanked his luck when Cas showed up and took his place in the passenger seat, immediately grabbing the milkshake and sighing happily as he sucked even though the drink itself was probably luke-warm now, and the whipped cream was all but gone.

Jess turned to him, apparently not satisfied with Dean's answer. She asked Cas the same question. He scowled and shook his head.

"Don't remind me. It was horrible." That seemed to shut Jessica up who looked at Sam with bewilderment Sam shrugged in a very This is Dean, what did you expect kind of way and didn't even look a bit surprised. Dean laughed as he drove to the motel.

 

"Alright, Lay it on me. What do you have?" Dean asked as he sat down on their motel bed, Cas sat on the floor, the table too small for all the books he had open. Sam and Jess took the table, deciding to help with the case since it was already weekend, and because they are such nerds, they don't really have that much workload, having finished everything early. Sometimes, Dean really wants to see Sammy's birth-certificate. No way that giant-nerdy-moose and him share the same blood.

"Okay. Like you said in the car, All of the victims come from families that are better off without them. I searched for potential deaths and murders around the general vicinity of the forest and there is only two people who match up." 

Dean nods for him to continue. Cas sighs.

"Madame Derbkire was 28 when she was burned alive, so no bones. Her husband was abusive, a typical narrow-minded white man in the 1800's. He burned her, sent his only son to war when the child was 15 and then supposedly died two years later around the same forest of a stroke. He was a good for nothing man, and I suppose it is quite obvious to assume that his family would have been much happier without him." 

Dean let out a breath, imagining the scene and then regretting it. 

"Who's the other one?"

"Luis Carmen. Was 52 when he killed his sister and his best friend's wife, a woman named Layla Carmen. He died of a stroke a few months later in his office. But, then again, the guy also had a history of high cholesterol and cardiac arrests."

"So, We are pretty sure it's Derbkire." Sam said and Castiel nodded. Shutting 2 of the books and setting them aside.

"If she was burned alive, then that means there is something keeping her here. Any ideas?" Jess spoke. Sam still seemed slightly surprised over the fact that she wasn't running for the hills while screaming bloody murder.

Cas frowned, shook his head.

"I don't know, but, her house is still intact, albeit no one lives there anymore. It's more of a tourist attraction, since her father was a Lord and they were quite rich, But, Going there today would be useless, there will be too many people. We'll go tomorrow. It's a Sunday."

"Alright." Dean says and gets up, checks the tiny alarm clock at his bedside. It's 8 o'clock. Really early for any of them, but, Dean can't bring himself to care, "It's late. You kids should go , talk or something. I need to do things here."

Sam was about to say something when Cas cut him off with a sigh and got up from the floor too.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume I am 'things' in this scenario?" Dean grinned as Sam's face blanched.

"That you are, babe." Dean replied and Sam took Jess' arm and practically ran off. Dean locked the room and turned around just in time to see Cas take his shirt off, glasses still intact.

Oh, this was going to be _fun_.


	8. The Silent Treatment

The first thing Dean did when he woke up was _smile_. Because, Sure they were putting their lives on the line everyday, Had to hustle or pick-pocket for a living, and they didn't really have a house and were living in different shitty motels everyday but, Dean was happy. He had Cas and his baby and his shotgun and miles and miles of road in front of them, not to mention they were saving lives and ridding the world of evil, no matter how slowly, and that just made him really goddamn happy, alright?!

He snuggled closer to his boyfriend, breathing deep in the scent of Cas' hair and smiling wider when he caught the smell of cheap motel soap and salt, but, he also caught cinnamon and what seemed to be just Cas. God, he loved the smell of Cas. It was always so warm and cozy and home and before he knew it, Cas was turning around to face him, all bleary-eyed and sleepy frown in place,

"You should stop being a creep so early in the morning." He said, but, his lips turned up in a small smile, and he kissed Dean's shoulder, before closing his eyes and placing his head there, breathing in Dean's neck. Dean laughed, because, apparently, his hormones still weren't quite settled and he was feeling quite ecstatic from yesterday's fuck.

"I can't help it." He told Cas, who seemed to have just gone back to sleep, "I love you too much." Cas smiled, eyes still closed and bit Dean's earlobe.

"Good. I love you too much too."

"Good."

And that's exactly when Dean's alarm went off. Dean groaned and got up, Cas rolling over to sleep were Dean was laying 2 seconds ago. Dean had asked him why he did it after he had noticed it a few times. Cas had just grumbled something about 'preserving body heat' while sipping his coffee. Dean thought he was adorable.

"Dean?" 

"Yeah?"

"Get me a double espresso. Those last two rounds definitely messed up with my sleeping cycle." Dean laughed, shook his head. "Alright." He said and after pulling on some boxers, jeans and a t-shirt, he went over to the diner, no doubt reeking of sex if the mess they made in the motel room was anything to go by.

Whilst he was waiting for his order, Sam called.

"Hey, Dean. So when do we go to the ghost's house?"

"We are not going anywhere, Sammy. Me and Cas can take care of this. You go do your lawyer shit."

"Look Dean, It's the weekend. I'm usually on a hunt by this time anyway. Besides, I know your motel room. I'll just go straight there-"

"No!" There was a pause, Dean could almost here Sam thinking, "Why not?"

"Because, Cas hasn't had any coffee yet. He's a monster before his coffee and shower. Plus, I don't think you'd want to go anywhere near the room I just had 6 rounds of mind-blowing sex in. The place is a mess."

There was another pause, And Dean could imagine Sam shutting his eyes tight, trying to get rid of the image. Dean didn't give him any time to respond.

"Anyway, If you wanna come, meet me at the Diner, The same one, in an hour." Dean paused, then smirked, "I'll meet you after some shower sex."

Dean hung up after hearing Sam groan, satisfied. He took the coffees from the extremely flustered waitress who probably heard the whole conversation. He winked at her and walked off, back to the room and preparing himself for a very grumpy Castiel.

And lo and behold, when Dean came back, the beast was up, squinting and looking around like they hadn't been living in the same room for 3 days now. His eyes found Dean's and he probably made an honest attempt to smile, but, could only manage a grimace. He made grabby hands for the coffee and Dean gave it to him, kissing his hair before opening the window to get rid of the sex smell.

After the coffee, Castiel felt much more human, He saw where Dean was looking through the case files and quietly made his way to the bathroom. Not quite enough though, because, the moment he was at the door, so was Dean, his naked back colliding with Dean's clothed chest.

"Where do you think you're going?" He said in that unfairly husky voice, But, Cas had to be resolute. Must not give in.

"Shower." He said and semi-relaxed when Dean's arm got tighter around his waist, long fingers massaging his hip bones. "Can I come?" He whispered, kissing the shell of Cas' ear, making him try to suppress a shiver and fail.

"No." Cas replied, sounding much more confident than he felt. Suddenly, the warmth was gone, and Cas turned around to see Dean stand defiantly, his arms crossed and lips pressed in a pout,

"Why not?" He whined and Cas had to press his lips in a hard line so as to not laugh.

"Because, Dean, My butt needs a break after last night." Cas said and he could see how much Dean wanted to laugh too. He didn't though, pressing his lips in an even more prominent pout.

"We don't have to fuck." He said but, there was no certainty behind the words, Cas scoffed, shaking his head, "You and I both know how much self-restraint we have when we are both naked and wet. For the sake of my butt and the fact that I'll have to sit down for who knows how long in the Impala after the case is over, I'll have to decline your offer, however tempting it is."

Dean looked like he wanted to stomp his foot and throw a tantrum, instead, he just turned around with a hmmph and stalked back to where he was sitting. Cas turned back and went to take a shower, hoping against all hope that he wouldn't be given the silent treatment.

Not that quiet Dean was a bad thing. Oh no, Cas could appreciate the Dean when he didn't talk because there was no need to talk. It was the Dean that didn't say where they were going or what they were doing, instead dragging Castiel along everywhere, which to be fair, was far worse than the silent treatment itself, that Cas had a problem with. The longest had lasted 4 hours. Four hours of being dragged along to meet the victim's family to the diner to the Impala and so on.

 

Unfortunately, The luck was not on Castiel's side (as usual) so, when he came out of the bathroom and wore his clothes, Dean all but snatched his wrist and dragged him out of the door, pushing him lightly to sit in the Impala, and drove to the diner without as much as a syllable. Cas sighed. Sometimes, he really wondered what made him love this man-child so much.

"Dean, This is childish. You can't turn into a five-year-old every time I say no to sex."

Dean scoffed and killed the engine after parking the car. He turned around to look at Cas, raising his eyebrow in a way that was somewhere between _Do you even hear yourself right now?_ and _What are you? 80?_

Personally, It was a bit insulting. But, It was hard to match Dean's sex drive. Especially when Cas' butthole was almost always sore.

Ignoring the immature manly man beside him, Cas got out of the car with an eye-roll and walked up to the diner. He was joined by Dean half-way through the parking lot, who took his hand and entwined it with his. Cas scoffed and glared at Dean when his lips came in contact with Cas' cheek. Dean gave him a smile, still not saying a word and just being the incorrigible assbutt that he was.

It was almost too adorable to look at from where Sam was blatantly staring at them from inside the diner.

They stepped in, and the waitress from before recognised Dean, saw who's hand he was holding and squeaked still blushing like a fire-engine and rushed to the back to call for someone else to take their order. Cas noticed.

"What did you do?" He asked Dean. Dean ignored him, letting go of his hand to sit in the booth next to Sam. Castiel glared at him before sitting across both the brothers. Sam looked at the couple with confusion, all the cuteness from outside gone, but, didn't ask anything. Instead, he cleared his throat and brought up the case.

"We cannot work while Dean refuses to speak to me. We might be good at silent conversations, but, we need a plan, and plans require talking." Cas spoke, leaning back in his booth. Dean glared at him and turned to Sam.

"Tell him that I'll talk to him through you." He told Sam, Sam looked up at the ceiling, asking questions in his brains that probably even God didn't know the answers to.

"You are not 5, Dean. Stop acting like it." It was Cas who spoke. Dean tried his best to ignore the jab, he really did. But,

"Well, maybe If you had let me come in the shower with you, I wouldn't have to." He stated, besides him, Sam choked on air.

"Is this what it's about?!" Sam managed to wheeze out, but, he was completely ignored.

"It's sex, Dean. I get a say in it." Cas stated Dean looked offended.

"Of course, you do! But, I told Sam and that waitress that I was going to have shower sex-"

"Why in god's name would you tell _your brother or the waitress_ about your sex life?" Their voices were getting progressively louder. It was a good thing that the Diner was pretty much empty, and the staff seemed to keep their distance from their table. Good move on their part.

"Well, you see, I was just telling Sam that he shouldn't come in the motel room after we had sex like 6 ti-"

_"Oh my God! I give up. You are incorrigible!_ " With that, Cas up and left, going to the parking lot to cool down or back to the motel, Dean didn't know. He turned to Sam, who was trying really hard to be invisible whilst still glaring at Dean like the world was ending and it was all his fault. Dean sighed,

"I screwed up, didn't I?"

"Big time." Sam nodded. Dean rubbed both his hands on his face and groaned.

"I'm gonna go and apologise."

"You are?" Sam looked surprised. Dean blinked at him. "Well yeah. I shouldn't have given him the silent treatment whilst we were on a case. It was careless and stupid. Not to mention, I should stop talking about my sex life so much. Especially if some random stranger is in the room to eavesdrop and later picture it." 

Before Sam could even open his mouth to shout a hallelujah! because, as far as he knew, his brother never apologised to anybody who wasn't family, his brother had left the diner. Either Dean had drastically changed in the last 5 years, or Castiel was more important to Dean than Sam had originally presumed.

He looked at the parking lot through the giant diner windows where Castiel was leaned up against the Impala looking like he belonged there, his brother soon caught up and touched and other man's shoulder, Cas gave him a hard look, Dean said something which made him smile, all of his features melting at the sight of Dean (probably) apologizing. 

Sam probably shouldn't be looking, It was a private, not to mention a very intimate moment, but, he really hadn't ever seen his brother like that, smiling freely and slightly hunched, as if honestly apologetic, one of his hands was nervously scratching the back of his neck, whilst the other was holding Cas' hand like he never wanted to let go. Dean said something more and every muscle in Castiel's body relaxed, he leaned against the Impala heavily, his face buried in the curve of Dean's neck and Sam forced himself to look somewhere else before he witnessed something that would scar his mind for the rest of his life.

It didn't take long for them to make up at all. 

They were back in their seats in ten minutes, both of them in the same side of the booth this time. The waitress (someone else, thank god) came to take their orders when she realised the fighting had stopped. When their food arrived, Both Dean and Cas were in business mode. Barely touching but, close enough to rely on each other, when somebody disagreed (usually the disagreements were among themselves though). They made a plan. They'll leave at night. Jump the fence at the back, Cas will make sure all the security alarms are off (Because he was a computer geek like that) whilst Sam and Dean go inside and pick up anything that even remotely looks personal or sentimental. Dean briefly played with the idea of burning the whole place down but, Cas poked his side and murmured 'don't be stupid' even before Dean got the words out.

Dean pretended he didn't know what Cas meant.


	9. The Half-Witch Part

The plan went smoothly for about the first 20 minutes. The alarms were off, and the guards drugged (courtesy to Castiel, that sneaky little bastard was a thief in his previous life, Dean was sure of it.) It's when the ghost showed up that the problems began. The first was the fact that Iron was pretty much useless. She was too strong and disappeared for only a little bit more that two seconds before re-appearing again, much more angrier than before.

"Shit." Dean cursed. They could have used one of Castiel's spells to bind the ghost, but, he didn't know where Cas was. Not to mention, Sam didn't know about Cas being the son of a high-priestess. The ghost flung Sam up at the wall across from the giant hallway and he came down with a thud, unconscious. Dean closed his eyes, awaiting the same fate when the voice he loved the most broke through the room like thunder bolts.

" _Nolite Prohibere Spiritum_ " Dean opened his eyes to Cas smiling at him smugly, "Hello, Darling."

  
Honestly, Dean should find better times to be turned-on. Dean turned to where the ghost was gaping at them, trying to move, but, It's efforts, at best were futile. Dean moved fast, Grabbing the photo album, before Sam woke up, and salt and burning it. The ghost lit up in flames and both he and Cas relaxed, staring at the inevitable destruction the room had turned to. Dean sighed, hugging Cas closer and burying his face in the crook of Cas' neck.

  
"Thank you." He mumbled, placing a kiss at Cas' collar bone. Castiel stroked Dean's hair at the base of his neck, just as Sam made himself known to the world of the living with a groan.

  
"My pleasure."

The ride home was tense, mostly because Sam had questions Dean really didn't want to answer too, but, also because, Now that the case was over, Cas and Dean will be back on the road by tomorrow morning, and now that Dean knew Sam never really left hunting, he really didn't want his brother to go on cases alone, no matter how rare they were.  
"You could always come with us." Cas said what was on all of their minds when the brother's had failed to speak even a word to each other the whole ride back to the motel. Sam looked surprised, as if he never even considered it as an option, and then shook his head.

Sam looked surprised, as if he never even considered it as an option, and then shook his head.

  
"No. You guys make a great team. Besides, three's a crowd and all that. Anyway, I was planning on asking Jessica if she would want to go on hunts together now that we both know we do it. Could become a tradition of sorts."

  
Dean snorted, because the whole sentence was so out of the spectra of normal, he wouldn't expect anything else from the Winchester family.

  
"Alright. Just, take care. And, If the gig is too big, we're just a phone call away."

"Yeah. Take care, Dean." The brothers hugged, and Dean was adamant to not let this chick-flick moment get out of hand. With two (only slightly awkward) pats on the back, they stepped back, Sam drove back to his apartment in his hybrid (Because he was 'practical' like that.)

Castiel knew what was coming before he even entered the motel room. He sighed, pulling off his t-shirt. Dean's hands trailed down the back, tracing the fallen feathers at the base of his spinal cord before following the ridges of his vertebrae to reach the shoulder blades, right where the wings started. Cas shivered, turning towards Dean and pulling him down over himself as he lay on the bed, Their lips meeting somewhere between the fall. Dean smiled, pulled away slightly,

"I take it your butt's fine now."

"Shut up." And Dean did.

Cas woke up with an empty stomach, somewhere in the back of his mind noting that they didn't really have any dinner. Dean was asleep beside him, which was surprising but, not unusual. Cas got out of bed with a groan, not really used to showering without his morning coffee. Dean was spoiling him too much in the littlest possible ways, and the thought made him smile. ' _Well_ ', Cas thought, looking at himself scowling at the mirror in the bathroom, _'At least it makes me smile mentally_.'

After the shower (Dean was going to be disappointed) that he had alone, Castiel took whatever semblance of humanity his mind could produce and made his way to the Diner for some well-deserved coffee. It was really just 5 minutes from the motel by walking, but, This was Castiel, so he snatched the keys to the impala from the side table, and took the car instead.

When Dean woke up, he was alone on the bed. And that in and of itself was so unsual that the smell of coffee from beside him made him panic for just a second. His hands wandered around the bed aimlessly, Knowing Cas wasn't there but, still looking for him.

"I'm not in bed, you Dingus." That. There was Cas. Dean turned over to see blue eyes looking at him with fondness. He groaned.

"Since when did you start waking up by yourself?" He asked and took the coffee Cas handed him gingerly.

"Ever since you started being a bed hog." Cas stated and walked over to their duffle bags. He made a quick work of cross checking his mental check list before zipping them up and placing them on the table.

"Your face is a bed-hog." Dean retorted, making Cas snort.

"We have the room for half an hour more. I would hurry if I were you."

"Your face is hurry." Dean mumbled half wanting to smack himself, because he might have woken up like 2 seconds ago, but, even he knew that that was the worst response ever. He dumped the rest of the coffee down his throat before wrapping the sheets around himself and walking to the bathroom. No way he was giving Cas a show while he was half-asleep and grumpy.

"Prude." He heard Cas mutter and turned around to glare at him, "Hey! You don't get to see my fancy ass if you're being a jerk!"

"Just go shower, Dean. I'm hungry and you promised me burgers for breakfast." Dean rolled his eyes, but, obeyed, going to the shower whilst muttering something about Cas' face being a burger.

When Dean finally came out of the motel, Cas was waiting by the Impala, impatiently tapping his foot on the pavement whilst making a list of all the ridiculous spells he could use on Dean to annoy him and still gain enough satisfaction without going on a murder spree.

So, maybe Castiel was a bit over-dramatic. No body was perfect.

"Sammy isn't answering my calls." Dean told him when he reached the Impala.

"It's Monday, Dean. Sam probably has classes." Dean frowned, shook his head.

"Sam always keeps reminding me, telling me how lucky he is that he only has like one afternoon class on Mondays." Cas frowned too.

"Still. It's only 8. He's probably still asleep or something. We can go and drop by after breakfast if you want to check on him." Dean didn't look convinced, but he nodded. Cas sighed, reached up to take Dean's head between his hands and kissed him soundly,

"We can go now." Cas told him. Dean sighed and shook his head.

"Nah. Like you said, It's only 8. Plus, Sammy's a big boy. He can take care of himself. Let's go get those burgers." 

Dean couldn't make conversation while eating. Hell, He couldn't even eat without making a mess of his mouth like a five year old. He was distracted and concerned and fucking terrified even though he shouldn't be. It wasn't the first time Sam had ignored his calls. But, It was the first time it had happened after Dean learned that Sam had been hunting alone. And sure, He has Jess, but, Dean was looking after that kid for 20 years, He's not gonna stop just cause Sam now had a hunter girl-friend.

Cas seemed to understand. He got tired of telling Dean to wipe his mouth every two seconds pretty fast. Instead he ordered another burger to go and finished both his and Dean's.

"You can eat when we're sure Sam's okay." Cas told him. Dean for the millionth time thought that he didn't deserve someone like Cas. Sure, the guy wasn't always patient, but, he was when it actually counted.

They drove to Sam's apartment and knocked. Their wasn't an answer. 10 minutes later and no answer later, Cas went over to talk to the neighbour. Apparently, He'd been Sam's best friend, a guy named Brady. He told them neither Sam nor Jess had morning classes on Monday, nor did they leave their house to go out. (They usually give him a spare key).

By this point, Dean was so worried, he was sweating bullets.

After thanking Brady for really, absoulutly nothing, they waited until he was in his apartment to break into Sam's. Cas made a quick work of picking the lock (magic) because Dean was trembling a bit, and they went inside to find the house completely thrashed.

Dean sucked in a breath, and Cas was there beside him immediatly, his hand grasping Dean and holding on tight like it was the only thing keeping Dean from going crazy. But, then again, to be honest, it probably was. They checked the whole house before the entered the kitchen. Sam was sprawled across the kitchen floor, unconsious but, alive.  
The relief of the moment staggered Dean for a moment, but, before his mind could comprehend, he was already moving towards his brother, bending down and checking for damage. His head was bashed in, it was going to swell. His knuckles were bruised, but, not bleeding. Dean slightly slapped him, willing him to wake up. After like 10 slaps and two glasses of water splashed across his face from Cas, the man groaned.

Sam's eyes fluttered, he coughed, His hands digging into Dean's arm as he struggled to sit up. He mouthed Dean's name, but, no voice came out,

"Cas, Does he have a concussion?" Dean asked, Cas placed two fingers on Sam's forehead, checking for damage, after a few tense seconds, he shook his head 'no'.  
Cas got up and brought another glass of water, giving it to Sam who drank it like his throat was on fire. He nodded in thanks and coughed again,

"Jessica. She's a Demon."

 


	10. The Demon Blood

Chapter 10- The Demon Blood  
Dean thought Sam might cry. His lower lip was trembling slightly, and his eyes were glossy. Dean held him tighter, the memories of Sam being just a child and trying not to cry after nightmares hit him like a punch to the gut. Instinctively, Dean's hands moved to brush Sam's hair back, and Sam let of a sigh, leaning into his big brother even though he was a grown man now.

"We'll bring her back. I promise." Dean told him, but, Sam was shaking his head, 'no'.

"She was a demon all along." He told his brother, ignoring the way his voice broke, because he was honest to God _in love with a Demon._

"You don't know that, Sammy." Dean was still shushing him, and Sam realised that he was shaking. He concentrated on staying still, concentrated on the solid presence beside him. Dean had always been the one thing he could fall back on, the one thing he could count on to protect him from not only the monsters, but, also himself. And Dean was here now, and just as it was ingrained in Dean's brain to protect Sam, it was ingrained in Sam's that as long as Dean was with him, Everything was going to be alright.

He let himself relax. His voice when he spoke next, was relatively steady.

"I know that Demons lie." Sam told Dean, but made no move to shift away, now more than anything, he needed his rock, "But, it made sense what she said. I had given Jess a protection charm on valentine's day 2 years ago. We had only been dating for a few days. A few weeks after that, she was mugged, everything valuable stolen, I didn't think anything of it when the charm was gone too. But, I remember thinking he had changed, was more closed off. I thought it was trauma, but God Dean, _She was a demon all this time."_

Dean stood him up, still taking most of Sam's body weight on his shoulders even though Sam could walk perfectly fine. They moved to the couch, Dean didn't know what to say. What do you say to someone who had been unknowingly dating a demon for 2 years, what do you say to your only brother when you know that he had been planning to marry the said demon not even a week ago?

"I don't understand." Both the brothers turned to Cas who was frowning. Dean hoped he didn't say anything insensitive, Sam had all but forgotten that the man was even there.

"What is it, Cas?" Dean asked, cautiously, Cas' eyes met his, the blue in them was dull with worry.

"Why now? She has been with Sam for two years. Why drop the act now?"

Dean blinked, he hadn't thought of that. But, if they were asking questions, then why stay with Sam in the first place anyway? She could have killed him a million times by now. What did she want with him? Dean frowned, something was wrong. He was still looking at Cas when Sam cleared his throat.

"I think I might have an idea." Sam said. He took the silence as a cue to continue. "Yesterday, after you dropped me home, I was going to make changes. Salt the doors and windows, drop a rosary in the water tank to supply holy water all over the house. I told Jess about it. Told her we should get anti-possession charms. That's when she attacked me. I think she realised I wasn't going to change my mind. I was going to call you when she hit me on the head."

Dean lets out a breath. That still doesn't answer the primary question, what was she doing here in the first place. Apparently, Cas was thinking the same thing. He sighed and sat at the coffee table in front of both the brothers.

"Sam," Cas' voice was soft now, the voice he used when talking to the elderly people in the victim's family, "Did she do anything to you? Made you behave a certain way? Feed you something weird? Maybe even gift you a weird accessory?"

Sam thought about it a moment, mentally going through all the gifts that he had been given by Jess in the past two years, There weren't a lot, just a few presents for his birthdays and Christmas. He was about to shake his head, when his eyes widened.

"She has a bottle of syrup. I don't know exactly what it is, but, she said that it was good for the immune system, that her father sent it to her. She would add a few in all of our beers. I never asked for details. She was studying medicine, it made sense." He tells Cas, eyes wide and pleading. Cas nodded, stiff but understanding.

"Where is it?" His voice was still so soft, comforting, Sam relaxed slightly, they didn't blame him, he realised, neither of them did.

"It's in the kitchen, top right shelf." Cas gave him a smile as he got up, placed a comforting hand on Sam's shoulder before going back to the kitchen.

Cas searched the shelves, the bottle standing out like a beacon when he looked through his grace. His hands trembled slightly as he reached for it, hoping against all hope that it wasn't what he was thinking it is. The vial contained thick dark red liquid, so red, it was almost black. Without another moment of hesitation, Castiel screwed the cap open and sniffed. The smell made him gag so bad that he almost lost his grip,

"Dean!" He called out, voice slightly strained. Dean was there in no time. He moved closer when he saw the look in Cas' eyes.

"What is it?" He asked, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer. Cas looked over his shoulder, and let out a breath when Sam didn't follow. He whispered, his voice low and scared and urgent,

"It's demon blood. She's been feeding him demon blood." Dean stilled. Slowly, his hand went over to cover his mouth, he didn't know what for, maybe he would have yelled, maybe he would have hurled, But, then, Cas placed the bottle aside and pulled Dean in his arms, the man went limp, relaxed infinitely.

"It's okay." Cas whispered in his ears, words coming out slow and important, "We'll figure it out. We'll figure everything out."

After a few moments of composing themselves, Dean and Cas came to a silent agreement to not tell Sam about it just yet. He just lost a very important person, he needed some calm and rest before he is plunged into another million things to worry about. They came back over to the living room. Sam was staring at his hands on his lap. He looked up when he heard footsteps.

"Well?" Dean couldn't speak, so he just shook his head. Cas spoke, showing him the bottle in his hands.

"I am not sure of what this is yet. And I don't want to presume. I'll have to research. Until then, What do you want to do, Sam? You could continue here. The Demon's gone. With enough protection, more won't come. You can complete your educati-"

"No!" Sam yelled, then lowered his voice when Castiel flinched, he cleared his throat, "I mean, Jess is still slive in there. I haven't known her for long, but, she is in this mess because of me. I have to fix it."

Dean nodded, knowing there were no two ways about it. He clapped his brother's shoulder when Sam got up,

"Alright. First things first, we need to know where she is." Dean said, giving a meaningful look to Cas, hoping he would be able to perform a tracking spell. Cas shook his head, barely.

"We can ask Charlie to track Jess' cell number or the licence plate of her car. It would be more accurate than any other tracking method." Cas' said to both the brothers, but, his eyes were on Dean. Dean nodded, indicating he understood. Sam, having missed the secondary conversation, perked up slightly,

"Who's Charlie? Are we leaving now?" Cas smiled slightly,

"No time like present." Dean nodded.

"Charlie is a girl we met a few cases back. She used to work for a multi-national corporation, only, the whole company was run by vamps. She helped us kill them, and has been helping us since then. She's almost like a sister that I never wanted." Dean told Sam, beside him, Cas chuckled slightly, Charlie and Castiel got along in a very weird conflicting-personalities kind of way, in which they keep arguing, and only agreed on something when they needed to gang-up against Dean. Dean thought it was unfair, Charlie thought Cas and her were besties and Cas never contradicted her, which really was the best anybody who wasn't Dean could get from Cas.

"Alright. I'll go pack some stuff, and then, we'll hit the road." Sam said and went over to his bedroom. Dean and Cas were quite for a moment, until Cas started laughing loudly,

"What?" Dean asked, smiling tentatively, because _shit, why is Cas laughing like he just lost his mind?_

"Last time we talked to Charlie face to face, it was 7 months ago." Cas said. Dean still didn't get it. Cas sighed, shook his head like a disappointed parent.

"We've been officially together for 6." He added, and watched as realisation slowly dawned on Dean's face. His lips stretched into a wide grin, eyes twinkling with anticipation, Dean started laughing loud enough that he had to lean on Cas for support,

"Oh, we are never going to hear the end of it." He told him.

"About what?" Sam asked, a tentative smile on his face, like he wasn't sure if he should be happy or not, It broke something in Dean's heart to see his brother so unhappy all over again. He widened his own smile, Charlie would help cheer Sam up. Those two nerds would get along great.

"The first thing Charlie asked us when we first met her was how long we two had been together, and we hadn't even started dating then. She's been trying to get us together at every opportunity since then. Something about the sexual tension choking her to death. You'd love her." Dean replies, and this time, Sam grins.

"Can't wait."


	11. Scars Of The Past

"So, you never told me where we were going?" Sam had been silent for the past half an hour. Metallica was playing softly in the car considering Cas was reading and would appreciate it if Dean would lower the volume of his barbaric music. Apparently, Cas was more of a Mayday Parade than a Fall Out Boy kind of a guy, and until a few days ago, Sam would have guaranteed that Dean would never go out with a person who didn't appreciate his music, but, Cas seemed to be an exception.

Cas seemed to be an exception for a lot of things. Dean hadn't changed in the past few years, Sam realised, he had just learned to compromise, even if it was just with Cas. Like, Dean would always buy Pie whenever he stopped in front of a gas-n-sip, But, he always bought apple. Now, He got Chocolate, even though according to Dean chocolate pie wasn't real pie, because Cas loved chocolate like Dean loved pie.

It was a sensible compromise, and Sam would have thought Dean was under some kind of a spell to be that compliant.

"We have this kind of a safe house in Kansas. Charlie basically lives there, but, everyone's got their own rooms. It's kind of like a military bunker, just completely furnished and organised. Has tonnes of research material and not to mention, the water pressure is heavenly." Dean replied, smiling at the memory of his bed and shower. It has been so long since he's been there, and now Cas and him would be able to enjoy both of those luxuries together, God, just that thought sent him drooling.

"How did you even find such a place?" Sam asked. Both Dean and Cas went silent. They never talked about it, When Dean had first asked Cas about it, Cas hadn't talked to him for 2 days. It was the place he was imprisoned in when he was born. His mother had pretty much left him in the dungeon after giving birth. If it weren't for the hunters who found him, Cas would be dead. As it were, they killed the witch, took baby-Cas under their wing, and made the bunker their headquarters. Now that Cas' guardian's were dead too, the place fell in Cas' hands. It was home, no matter how much he didn't want it to be. It felt safe in a way it shouldn't, maybe it was because the magic the kept the place alive and working was the same that ran in his veins, but, no matter how much Cas had tried, he had never been able to stay apart from that place for too long.

"It used to belong to my mother." Cas told Sam, and after 3 long beats of silence, Sam realised that was all he was going to get. Curiosity ate at him, and the already long drive from California to Kansas seemed infinitely longer. 

The car was silent and slightly tense, the low hum of Metallica being the only thing preventing Sam from the boredom of listening to the car's engine. Silently, Dean moved one of his hands from the wheel, took one of Cas' where it had been clenched around the binding of his book, slowly, he brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss on the knuckles before rubbing the area with his thumb. Castiel relaxed, deflating like a balloon , with a long sigh, and the tension in the car dissolved like it hadn't even been there in the first place.

The movement itself wasn't sexual, far from vulgar or intimate, but, Sam suddenly had a very strong desire for brain-bleach. No body should witness a moment as tender as that, especially if the said moment included his brother, Sam had never seen his brother so open, never thought Dean of all people would have an effect like that on anybody, but, here they were, both Dean and Cas, supporting each other in a way that was purely mental, as if they had a bond no body else could see, something profound that was impossible to decipher.

Sam didn't want to admit it, but, he was jealous. Because, Dean got this amazing thing with this amazing person, who even though hadn't known Sam for very long, hadn't judged Sam even once, even though he ought to know every thing Sam did prior to leaving for Stanford. While Sam had loved this one girl for 2 years who turned out to be not a girl after all. He had loved a demon, a demon who most probably pretended to be pretty much everything Sam wanted, because, no way a girl could be that perfect.

The more Sam thought about it, the more it made sense. Jessica never had preferences of her own. They did whatever Sam wanted them to do. Sam never had to compromise, never had to 'make-it-work', they never fought because Jessica always apologised, in fact, the only thing Jessica changed about Sam's life was that syrup he started adding to his drinks.

Dean always ended up messing everything good the life gave him, which wasn't a lot, mind you, but, Sam knew about his brother's self-worth issues. He knew about Dean's tendency to fuck up everything he wanted. It was one of the reasons why Sam had been the only constant thing Dean had till Sam too left for Stanford. Of course, there was Dean's baby, and Sam's leaving was on Dad, not Dean, but, those didn't count. Dean never did commitment, no matter how much he liked the other person, Dean and Cas had been going steady for 6 months now, Sam couldn't help but think that it wouldn't really be long before this too ended.

It was a shame really, Sam would miss Cas. And Dean would be devastated.

The rest of the ride was filled with napping, talking, eating, and peaceful silences that only Sam seemed to be bothered by. They stopped at a motel after 10 hours of continuous driving, Dean came back with two keys, one for Sam and the other for both of them. Sam didn't know why, but, it felt weird, not staying with his brother in a motel, knowing that his brother was just next door with his boyfriend, doing God knows what. Sam had no problem with Dean being with a guy, it's just that, Sam was used to Dean spending the night with one night stands, that the fact that Sam was going to spend time with a guy who was actively having sex with his brother was just very weird.

Sam didn't sleep very well that night.

He got front row seats to the show of Grumpy Cas the next morning. It was 10'o clock in the morning, Sam had been awake for almost 4 hours now, and there was still no sign of Dean or Castiel yet. Having lost his patience, Sam decided to bang his brother's door as hard as possible. He heard Dean groan, two minutes later, Dean opened the door, all squinty eyes and rumpled clothes.

"Sammy?" Dean asked with the yawn, hand going under his shirt to scratch his stomach, "What time is it?"

"It's 10, Dean. You said we'll be on the road at 8." Dean's eyes widened, he looked back in the room, probably at the alarm clock on the night stand, and cursed. He opened the door wider,

"Come in." He said and Sam was about to protest, but, Dean cut him off with an eye roll. "We didn't do anything, last night, bitch. We're decent." 

"Jerk." Sam muttered but, came in, leaving the coffee he bought for both of them (because he was an amazing younger brother) on the table and looking at the papers that were sprawled all over the place. The hand writing was definitely Dean's, they weren't on a case, but, Dean was still doing research. Sam smirked, compromising and responsible, his brother was growing up.

Dean took his coffee and took a seat in front of Sam, Sam raised an eye brow,

"Aren't you going to wake him up?" Dean scoffed,

"I need caffeine in my system before I risk my life, thank you very much."

"You do it everyday." Sam replied, pretty sure his brother was exaggerating.

"And it doesn't get any less life-threatening." Dean replied and gulped down the rest of the cup, probably burning his oesophagus in the process. He got up, and seemed to brace himself for the worst. Slowly, Dean walked over to the bed,

"Cas, wake up, we're late."

Sam watched in amusement as the lump of blankets moved slightly, a hand came out and pulled the blanket further down until a single blue eye could be seen glaring at his brother, God, if looks could kill...

"What time is it?"

"It's 10." The glare seemed to get harder at Dean's words, and Cas retracted back into the cocoon of his blankets, 

"Wake me up when it's 8." Came out a muffled voice and Sam held back a snort. Dean groaned, rubbing his face as if asking for patience, with a huff, he poked the lump,

"It was 8 two hours ago." Cas sighed from under the blanket, as if admitting defeat, and came out of the blankets fully, he was shirtless, but, at least he was wearing PJs. Cas looked at everything with a glare, squinting his eyes and frowning in confusion as if he wasn't sure where he was, his eyes fell on Sam, and Sam thought he should say something, maybe good morning, But, before he could open his mouth, Cas had already looked away, as if Sam was just another piece of furniture in the room. Cas looked at Dean, pouted only slightly, and made grabby hands for something.

Dean sighed and walked over to get the other cup of coffee, he came back, gave it to Cas with a kiss on his head, Cas just grunted in response, drinking his coffee with so much concentration, Sam would have thought it was Ambrosia.

It seemed to work like magic though, Cas' eyes cleared up, the glare gone and replaced with just a bit of residual laziness. He didn't look at the place like it was some sort of death trap anymore, and when he laid eyes on Sam, he seemed surprised,

"Oh. Hello." He said, voice deeper than usual, thick from coffee and a good night sleep. Sam nodded, and went back to drinking his second cup. Just then, Dean came out of the bathroom, hair damp and freshly showered. Sam hadn't realised that he had been staring at Cas long enough for Dean to go the bathroom and shower. He hadn't realised his brother had left the room. Talk about awkward.

"Good morning, Grumpy. You probably have like 5 minutes worth of hot water. Better make it count." Dean said with a cheeky wink and Cas glared at him, nothing compared to what Dean was used to every morning. Cas got up with a sigh, pants hanging low on his hips as he stretched, Dean gawked, Sam averted his eyes, and Cas made his way to his duffle bag, turned to gather his clothes, and that's when Sam saw it.

Cas' back was covered in scars, but, there weren't random, Each cut was deliberate, carved in a way that it made wings. hot pink lines met with each other on pale skin, slightly raised as if they had been cut multiple times, the whole image was so detailed, it was as beautiful as it was gruesome. Sam sucked in a breath, eyes going wide and mouth opening to say something, Sam didn't know what, but something. Thankfully, he caught his brother's eyes before he said something embarrassing, or worse, offensive. One look at the cold warning glare Dean threw his way and Sam's mouth shut with a snap.

Cas having not noticed the silent exchange silently took his clothes and went to the bathroom, kissing Dean on the cheek on the way. Sam released a breath he didn't know he was holding when the door shut behind them. He waited till the shower started before turning to Dean,

"Whoa." He breathed. Dean sighed, rubbing his face with his palms and taking the seat in front of Sam again,

"Tell me about it. When I first saw it, I thought I was going to be sick."

And wasn't that just an understatement. When Dean first saw it, he thought he was going to kill someone, he thought he was going to die. He remembered seeing only red, he thought of wanting to touch them but knowing he couldn't, knowing Cas wasn't his, not at that time. 

Dean had always wondered why Cas never took of his shirt in front of him, always thought maybe Cas was just shy. He would change in the bathroom after his showers, and Dean basically so no skin except what his t-shirt revealed. So, when one day after a really bloody werewolf hunt, when Cas had had to change his blood-soaked t-shirt for something more appropriate to be seen by other people in front of Dean, Dean had not expected to see angel wings pretty much carved on his back, like his biological father being a fallen angel was some kind of a parody. 

He had never wanted to kill someone as much as he wanted to kill whoever did that to Cas then.

Sam brought Dean back from his trip down to memory lane with a cough, when Dean focused his eyes on him again, Sam raised his eyebrows, asking for some kind of explanation.

"His mother was a complete bitch." Dean said, and Sam's eyes widened again, because who's mother could be so completely insane as to carve drawings on her own son? "She practically left him to grow up by himself in a basement. Had some random woman take care of him till he could eat by himself, after that, Cas was all on his own, in a basement. She was a complete nutcase, Called him 'her angel' and did that." Dean sighed, looked away, a hand covering his mouth, eyes glossy, "I don't want to talk about it, Sam."

"Yeah. Okay." Dean nodded, cleared his throat, and got up to pack his duffle. After a moment, he turned back to Sam, "Pretend you didn't notice it. He hates when people look at him differently because of his past."

Sam nodded, curiosity nagging at his brain again, questions like, _How did Cas get out?_ and _Who was his mother?_ floating in his head until he had to literally shake them away. It wasn't any of his business. They hadn't even known each other that long, besides, this was personal, something told him, that Dean was one of very few people (if not the only one) whom Cas had trusted enough with his secret.

When Cas came out, Dean pretended as if nothing had happened, as if he wasn't on the verge of crying. He suppressed the need to hug Cas til his brother went back into his room, When both of them were alone though, Dean didn't spare a moment. In a split second, Cas was in Dean's arms, yelping in surprise before melting completely. Dean breathed Cas in, lightly traced those scars through the material of Cas' shirt.

"I love you." Dean whispered, and felt Cas smile against his collar bone, "And I, you."


	12. Charlie Bradbury

The boys were on the road by 11. And had reached the bunker by mid-night. By the time the Bunker came into view, Sam was so tired and bored and really just very tired that he couldn't bring himself to get excited over how cool the place was. 

The entire establishment was built underground, The stairs at the entrance led to a library, with more books than there were at Stanford. Sam would probably salivate on pretty much all of them in the morning, but, right now, he needed a bed, pronto. Sam followed Dean and Cas as the walked over to the residential area of the place. Dean opened the door to his bedroom, and threw in their duffle bag on the desk chair. He came out and pointed the room across his to Sam,

"Sleep there tonight. It's Cas', but, he'll be sleeping with me. We'll clear the room tomorrow and you can make it yours. Good night, Sammy."

And with that Dean went back to his room, Cas following suit. Sam was too lazy to do anything but fall on the bed with a groan. Dental hygiene can go screw itself, He wasn't going to lose all his teeth if he didn't brush his them for once.

Charlie really wasn't surprised to see Dean making pancakes the next morning when she woke up. The smell of breakfast and coffee was everywhere in the bunker. And she probably would have tackled him in a hug if she wasn't half asleep and barely conscious.

"Good morning." She said instead. Dean grinned at her. It was weird, looking at Dean, you wouldn't think that Dean was a morning person, but, then again, Cas didn't look like a person who would have trouble getting out of bed, This two were made for each other, if only they would stop pretending to be 'just friends'.

"I'm guessing Cas is still in bed?" Before Dean could answer, someone was stumbling through the door, black hair everywhere and t-shirt all but twisted uncomfortably around his torso. Cas looked like a mess. A sexy hot mess in Dean's opinion.

"Not anymore." Dean said as Cas stumble-walked over to the other side of the counter where Dean stood. After months of dealing with Cas' morning grumpiness first handed, Dean was basically the only person Castiel acknowledged before his first cup of coffee.

Charlie watched from where she sat, she had stopped taking offence to Cas' _no body's important till I get caffeine in my system_ a long time ago, doesn't mean she wasn't surprised that Cas had made a beeline for Dean instead of the coffee-maker. She watched, eyes wide, as Dean turned the stove off and turned around just in time for Cas to wrap himself around him like an octopus,

"Dean.." Cas mumbled, voice deep and sleep-filled. Charlie waited for Dean to blush, to stutter, to do anything but reply with a 'Yeah, Babe?'

_Babe?!_

"Coffee." Cas says, burying his face in Dean's neck, Dean moved slightly, hands stretching to get to the coffee machine, just as the smell wafted through the air, Cas peeled himself off of Dean and moved over to the cupboards to get himself a mug. Dean caught Charlie's expression and laughed,

"So..." He started, caught himself so that he wouldn't laugh again, "Me and Cas are a thing now." Charlie nodded, jaw still hanging open,

"I see that." Charlie said. Dean felt more than saw Cas' expression change as he drank the first gulp, his eyes clearing, frown disappearing, he blinked at Charlie, before smiling,

"Hello, Charlie." He said and Charlie snorted, and shovelled her face with pancakes so that she didn't blurt out a 'Told you so'. 

Just then Sam came into the kitchen, hair everywhere that was pretty much back to perfect with just one brush of his gigantic hands. Charlie stared again, open-mouthed,  
"Any more surprises I should know of?" She asked to no one in particular.

 

After the introductions and the awkward initial questions, the residents of the bunker were back to their normal, comfortable selves. Everything was almost exactly the same as it normally was, with an addition of on large moose-man (Charlie's words) and Dean and Cas sitting a bit more closer than they usually did. It came as somewhat of a surprise that the transition between Dean and Castiel from partners to best friends to a couple was so not different. They were just the same as they always were, the sexual tension had decreased though, not disappeared. The eye-fucking was still full-on. The casual touches had increased 10 fold, which is saying something, seeing that even before they were together, it was a miracle to find one of them not touching the other.

The boys filled Charlie on what had happened in California, and after another round of insulting the demon, all of them were silent, still in their pyjamas and sitting on the dining table. Cas looked at Dean, who nodded just a little, It was time. Cas cleared his throat, fixing Sam to a soft yet firm stare,

"So, Yesterday, The syrup Jess was feeding you. I know what it is." Sam straightened, towering over all three of them whilst sitting. How he managed to look like a wounded puppy with a stature like that was beyond Dean.

"Alright. Lay it on me." He said, Cas sighed, shaking his head. "You're not going to like it. And before I say anything, I need you to know that this isn't your fault."

It warmed Dean to know that Cas cared about Sam enough to already try to calm him down despite his deep-rooted hatred for demons. Sam nodded, and looked resigned.

"It was demon blood. She was feeding you demon blood." The whole room was tense, Charlie gasped, Cas looked sorry, Sam looked like he was going to be sick. He took a deep breath, staring at the empty coffee cup in his hands,

"Is there...Can you reverse it?"

Everybody looked at Cas, Cas chewed his bottom lip, looking over Sam's shoulder, after a while, he nodded.

"Demon blood is addicting. You would feel withdrawal symptoms after a while. The best way would be to let it all out of your system. I would suggesting detoxicating your body. Start fasting, only eat raw veggies to break it. It will be a painful process. We don't know how much of it is inside you. We'll have to put you on a lock down, but it shouldn't take more than a few days." Cas looked at Sam, who nodded, gingerly, he placed a hand on the other man's arm. Sam was shaking slightly, "You'll be fine, Sam. We'll get through this."

Sam nodded again, exhaling and relaxing slightly, Dean walked over to give his brother a hug, trying to lighten the mood with inappropriate comments and pop-culture references. Cas smiled slightly at the sight of the two brothers. His heart warming when Sam relaxed completely against Dean. It's something he had never experienced before he met Dean, the feeling of Safety. Dean was safety. Dean was Haven.

The rest of the day was tense, Sam had shut himself back in his room, Dean was spending time staring at the TV screen from where his head lay on Cas' lap, looking but, not really seeing. He did not even blink when Dr. Picollo slapped Dr. Sexy right across his face with latex gloves. Cas himself was trying to understand what he was reading but failing. Words wouldn't stick in his head, slipping away before he could join them into a sentence. After reading the same paragraph for the 8th time, Cas gave up, putting the hard-cover aside so that he could occupy his hands with Dean's hair, they both were thinking the same thing, and before he could change his mind, he spoke,

"Would you go after him if Sam went away?" Cas asked. He could feel Dean tense under him, but, the other man did not take his eyes off the screen.

"No. Sam's a big boy now. He's been hunting without me for who knows how long." He replied. Cas tugged at his hair until Dean looked at him, eyes glassy, but hard.

"But, You'll worry about him." Cas stated, Dean closed his eyes, turned his head again, this time the other way so that when he spoke next, his voice was muffled against Cas' shirt.

"Of course I will. He's still my baby brother." Dean said and sighed, then looked at Cas when he tugged his hair again, "But, we aren't as close as we used to be. If he wants to be alone, I won't force myself on him."

"He still loves you." Cas told him, placing a tentative kiss on Dean's forehead. Dean _hmmed_. Smiled slightly.

"I know. But, he doesn't trust me like he used to. There's been too big of a gap." 

"It's not your fault." when Dean didn't respond, kept looking at Cas with unseeing eyes, Cas dipped down and kissed him. The angle was awkward at best, but, when Cas came back up, and repeated what he said, Dean's eyes were laser sharp, and his smile widened slightly,

"Okay."

It shouldn't have been a shock when they woke up next morning and found Sam missing. But, Cas still couldn't get a word out of Dean until after lunch. And when he did managed to, Dean lashed out, as if the talk yesterday never happened. It took half an hour for Cas to calm him down, another hour for Dean to understand that it truly wasn't his fault. The guilt was still there, but, he had given his brother a choice. A place to live and time to heal. If Sam wanted to be elsewhere, it wasn't Dean's place to stop him. Sam could make his own decisions, and if Sam needed time alone, Dean would give it too him, no questions asked. 

Doesn't mean he didn't feel extremely angry and wholly inadequate when he saw the note left on the bedside, hastily scrawled and torn at the side,

_I want to hunt alone. Don't come looking. -Sam._


	13. The Family Business

Dean should have known that John Winchester would be the reason for his and Cas' first actual incredibly serious fight. It had been who knows how long since Sam left (Dean knew exactly how long) and things had relatively gone back to normal. That is, as normal as Dean's life could get. He was content. Happy, even. He had Cas by his side, Baby always parked somewhere nearby and hunts that weren't too crazy. So, of course it was time for life to throw some lemons.

John Winchester contacted. Dean and Cas were having dinner at a diner, close enough from the motel that they had walked. Dean had been laughing at something Cas said and really, Dean hadn't laughed that hard since Sam. Cas was grinning, happy to see Dean happy even though he himself didn't really find whatever he had said very funny. That's when Dean's phone pinged. Dean had still been laughing as he fished it out, but, one look at the screen and Cas saw Dean stop mid-laugh and scowl in a split second. For a moment Cas thought it was Sam. Dean read whatever the text said before he scoffed, got up and left without a word.

So, maybe Dean was partially at fault.

He could hear Cas calling after him, but he kept walking, across the road, to the next block and right back into their room at their motel where he locked himself into the bathroom pretty sure he was going to puke any moment. 10 minutes later, he heard the door shut again and then Cas was banging on the bathroom door.

"Dean, what's wrong?" When Dean didn't answer, the door opened on itself (stupid witch) and Cas dragged Dean back into the room, made him sit on the bed and took the phone from Dean's too-tight grip.

Dean saw as the colour drained from Cas' face and Dean wanted to kill his dad.

Cas crouched down to kneel in front of Dean, holding his face with both his hands. Dean leaned in, almost subconsciously until their foreheads touched.

"Hey, baby, you okay?" Cas asked him, voice deep and soft just like when he sang to Dean when he thought Dean was asleep. Cas understood. He always understood. At that moment, Dean knew he was going to do anything he can to keep Cas to himself for the rest of his life.

Dean shook his head to Cas' question, just a little so as to not to break the contact. He saw as Cas' face crumbled, Dean hardly ever admitted to being anything but fine, and whenever he did, Cas knew that it was something really bad.

"You don't have to go, love." Cas said, but, Dean shook his head again, taking a breath in and leaning back a little so that their foreheads weren't touching.

"I do. He's my dad." Dean's voice broke at the last word, and Cas' face hardened, because John Winchester may have been a father, but, he was not a Dad. At least not since Mary passed away.

"I don't understand. You have a choice. You can choose to ignore the text and yet you won't." Cas got up, started pacing from one side of the motel to the other. Dean sighed, rubbed his face and got up too, hands in his pocket because Castiel was angry and Dean didn't want to make him any angrier by touching him.

"He's family, Cas. He asked for help-"

"Texting you a set of coordinates is not asking for help, Dean. You don't even ask strangers for help like that, let alone your own son." Cas yelled, and Dean knew whatever was going to come out of his mouth next, he was going to regret it. He should apologise, take Cas in his arms and calm him down, talk like mature adults. He should-

"And you would know that how exactly?"

The room froze. Castiel was stone. Dean wanted to punch himself bloody. With a psycho-witch for a mother and a father who basically ruled hell, one does not simply bring up Castiel's parents. Within a moment, The room's door was open, and Dean was standing on the other side of the door with the keys of the Impala in his hands,

"You are sleeping in the car." Cas growled at him and shut the door right in his face.

So, maybe most of the argument was Dean's fault.

He sighed, and walked towards the Impala, opening the back door and getting in. There was no way he was going to sleep. Not because baby wasn't comfortable, because she was, but, there was no Cas to hold, nobody humming in his ears and the last thing he remembered was how red Cas' eyes were when he threw Dean out.

So, He waited for the courage that he would need to knock at their door again.

At 2'o clock, Dean finally got out of the car and knocked. Cas opened the door with a scowl, hair a mess and eyes red.

"I'm sorry." Dean said, Cas' expression didn't change, but, he didn't close the door either. Dean took it as his cue to continue, "I was way out of line, and I know that I don't have an excuse, but, my dad suddenly reaching out to me out of nowhere really messed me up and I took it out on you and that was a jerk move and I would really appreciate it if you didn't break up with me because of how much of an asshole I am."

Silence. Then,

"I don't like to fight with you." Cas' voice broke, and with it all the resolve Dean had to not touch him. Within seconds Cas was breathing in Dean shirt, hands clutching the fabric at the back. Dean ran his hand through Cas' hair, the other one holding him close.

"I know, baby, I'm sorry. I was being an asshat."

"You were." Cas said, his voice was thick. Dean gave one more squeeze before pulling away, Cas glared at him,

"And you also messed up my sleeping cycle." Dean laughed, and kissed him hard on the mouth.

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise. Come on, let's go back to bed."

They moved silently, shedding their clothes until both were in their boxers before slipping under the covers. Now, with the familiar body heat and arms around him, Dean felt like he was about to pass out from relief and exhaustion.

He almost lost the one good thing in his life. At least it was over now.

"Are you still going to go?"

Or not.

Dean opened his eyes to see Cas already staring at him, Dean couldn't read his face, but, Cas' eyes were soft. He didn't want to argue.

"I don't want to. But, he's still blood. He might not know how to ask for help, but, that doesn't mean he doesn't need it." Cas sighed, and Dean's heart rate sped up, because, what if Cas finally realised Dean was too messed up? What if he ended it right here right now? What if-

"Okay." Cas finally said. Dean blinked, "Okay?"

"I don't like it. I don't trust John Winchester to take care of you, So, I want you to take care of yourself. No acting reckless and no risks. You won't be playing bait. I want you to give me updates. Just an I'm still alive every now and then would do. If you need anything, call me. I don't care what your father thinks, but, I'll always come when you call. Okay?"

"You're not breaking up with me?" Cas frowned, and if he wasn't lying down sideways, Dean was pretty sure he would have tilted his head, "No, why would I do that? I love you."  
Dean grinned, moving closer to rest his head on Cas' shoulder, "I love you too." He said and when Cas still didn't relax, Dean laughed, "Alright." he said, "I agree to all your terms and conditions."

Cas relaxed, his arms tightening around Dean's torso. With a good night and a kiss on the head, they slept.

 

And woke up really late at 12'o clock the next day. They went over to the bunker first, Dean had to drop Cas back to the Safehouse and get some more clothes. At least that's what Dean told himself, but, really, any excuse to delay seeing his father was a welcome gift. Only, time's a bitch, so when you want it to slow down, it speeds up like flash, and before Dean knew it, he was back on the road heading for Nebraska to meet John Winchester.

 

John knew his son was going to be angry when he came. But Dean, when he met his dad, was not angry. He was majorly pissed. They met in John's room. He had booked two singles, and all the hope Dean had of late-night calls with Cas vanished.

"What happened to your hunting partner?" Dean asked when he had set his bags down. John didn't meet his eyes, instead staring at the map pinned at the opposite wall. "She was compromised." He said.

Dean closed his eyes, breathing hard because this was what? the fifth time? If he hadn't met Cas, Dean would suggest that he hunt with John again, at least he knew how his father was during a hunt. It would be better if he died rather than anyone else. 

But he had met Cas. So, instead he said,

"Look dad, this is a one-time thing, alright? I don't care if your partner is dead, mine isn't. I ain't leaving Cas to hunt alone. I'll be leaving as soon as this is over."

John looked like he wanted to argue. And Dean knew what he would have said. It was always something along the lines of _I'm your family_. and _Family comes first_. But, Cas was family too. Maybe even more than John was, so Dean shut him up with a glare.

"What do you know so far?" Dean patted himself on the back. Mentally. He just had to keep it professional. No family talk and they will be fine. He will be fine.

"It's a djinn." John said, and immediately Dean smiled. Now _that_ brought some good memories. John scowled.

"Why they hell are you smiling? We don't even know how to kill it." 

"I do. You would too if you bothered with the internet."

"Internet is unnecessary if I can get all the information I want in the public library."

"Well, clearly you can't since you didn't know how to kill it." John scowled harder.

"That's why I called you, didn't I? Now, how do you kill this bastard?"

"Silver blade dipped in lamb's blood. I'll go to the butcher tomorrow morning. Do you know where he is?" John nodded.

"There is an abandoned hotel at the far side of the town. I confirmed it last night. Barely got out."

Dean simply nodded, peeling off his t-shirt and removing his belt before plopping back on the bed. John sighed from where he was sitting on the table. He got up and switched off the lights before going to bed too. If Dean didn't want to talk, John wasn't going to force conversation.

When Dean was sure John was asleep, Dean quietly took out his phone from his jean pocket, dimming the brightness before texting Cas,

_Still alive_. He waited, in a minute, Cas typed back,

_Hello Dean_. Dean smiled. Then, after considering his options, he typed _I can't sleep_.

_Neither can I_. Dean bit his lip to stop smiling, it didn't help much.

_Sing to me._ There was a pause, no reply for 5 minutes, Dean thought maybe Cas had dozed off, just when he was about to give up, the dots appeared,

_You weren't supposed to know about that._ Dean covered his mouth with his arm to stop himself from laughing, a chuckle escaped none the less. John shifted slightly, Dean froze, seconds ticked by before Dean let out a sigh and typed back,

_It helps me sleep_.

Moments went by before Dean's phone vibrated. Cas had called. Excitement bubbled in the pit of his stomach. It was stupid. It wasn't like they were going to sex-talk. But, the idea of talking to his boyfriend that his dad didn't know about whilst the said dad slept in the bed next to him was somewhat rebellious, and Dean answered the call in a moment.

"Close your eyes, Dean." Cas said, and Dean _hmm_ ed in reply, obeying. "Are you comfortable?"

"Yeah." Dean whispered. He could hear the smile on Cas' face, his own lip imitating the action. He carefully placed the phone between the pillow and his ears, sleeping on his side and trying to not press any buttons. Cas took a breath, and when he sang, his voice was a whisper, soft and deep. Dean felt himself tiring almost immediately.

_"Hey Jude, don't make it bad_

_Take a sad song and make it better_

_Remember to let her into your heart_

_Then you can start to make it better_

 

_Hey Jude, don't be afraid_

_You were made to go out and get her_

_The minute you let her under your skin_

_Then you begin to ma-_

Dean? I'm guessing you fell asleep. Goodnight, Love."

Dean slept like a baby with a smile on his face, thinking he could get used to this. Used to hearing Cas' voice every night before he slept. Used to Cas singing him the one song his mother sang to him every night till the very end. He could get used to Cas. Forever.

 

Dean woke the next morning before John. Quickly, he took a shower, and was dressed and was the room before his father could even stir. He got them breakfast, getting the Lamb's blood from the butcher's shop (that conversation always went spectacularly). His dad was in the shower when he came back. Dean took the opportunity and called Cas before his dad could come back.

"Hey babe." Dean spoke when Cas picked up on the fifth ring. Cas grunted in response,

"Dean." His voice was thick with sleep. Dean felt a sudden pang of longing for blue eyes. He closed his eyes, smiling and soaking every second. This was temporary. Just gank the freaking djinn and go back home.Wherever Cas was.

"How'd you sleep?" Dean asked. He knew Cas had trouble sleeping without him. He still couldn't believe sometimes how safe Cas felt with him. How much trust he had in Dean. In soft moments, between the quiet of the night and the security of each other's arms, when they were both vulnerable and intimate, Cas would whisper to him, tell him how Dean was safety, and warmth, and constant. How Dean was Haven. Cas' Haven. Dean cherished those moments, those nights when he was sure Cas needed Dean just as much Dean needed him.

"I love you." Cas said in reply, and that just said everything.

"I'll be back tonight. I promise. I love you too, Cas." And that's when his dad came out of the bathroom. Dean cursed softly, and nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'll call you after I'm done with the hunt, alright?" He spoke and Cas' grunted in response. Dean imagined him, laying in bed, probably in just his sweats (because the t-shirts are always uncomfortable on his back). He tried to remove the image out of his head as he hung up, Popping a boner in the middle of the day in front of his dad after talking to his 'hunting partner' was the last thing he needed.

Instead, he turned to his dad, who was looking at him with that weird frown/scowl on his face, quickly, Dean looked down at his crotch, nope. No boner. Dean looked back at his Dad with an eyebrow raised,

"Something on my face?" John shook his head, eyes downcast.

"No, It's just... You look different.. lighter. It's weird."

Dean narrowed his eyes at his father but, didn't say anything. They had their breakfast in an awkward silence. John stealing glances at his boy whilst Dean kept his eyes solely on his bacon lest he ends up glaring and starting an argument. (heh. he used 'lest'. Cas' Shakespeare obsession must be getting to him). He didn't realise he was smiling softly until his dad cleared his throat. John wasn't going to talk about Dean's life. It was obvious his son was only for business, but, God, this was getting really weird.

"So, tell me about this partner of yours." Dean looked up at his Dad, unable to keep the little twitch of lips that the thoughts of Cas usually brought. It was ridiculous, he was completely gone on the guy, and he didn't even realise to what extent until he had to leave him (temporarily, he reminded himself.)

"He's a great guy." Dean said, and his dad's eyebrows raised. " A complete genius with a blade."

"A man?" John asked, Dean nodded, so maybe Dean's love-struck expression wasn't because of his hunting partner.

"Made any more friends?" Dean nodded again, smiling as if remembering something fond.

"Yeah. There's Charlie. Not a hunter, but, she knows about the life. She's a hacker. Helps us out on cases when we need to sneak into some important places."

Ah. Charlie. That explains a lot. His son's in love.

"That's good." John said and that was followed by another silence. The finished their breakfast and left for the abandoned building. Dean dipped to silver blades in the blood, handing one over to his dad. John took it with a wrinkled nose.

It's show time.

 


	14. Souls And Where They Go

John was surprised at how much his son's close-combat techniques had improved. He didn't only use brute force, but, also quick thinking, which, if John were to be honest, he wasn't sure it was a skill Dean was capable of. Either way, Dean had been using martial arts with his usual fighting style, and had distracted John more than a couple of times with his movements. So, After they had rolled up the case (unfortunately, no survivors) the first thing John did was ask,

"Where the fuck did you learn to fight like that?!" 

Dean grinned at him, remembering all the times he and Cas had spent in the bunker, training. Cas teaching him Tae-kwon-do whilst Dean taught him how to aim better for long-range.

"Cas, my partner. He's a black III belt in taekwondo." He told John, and maybe if John was paying more attention to Dean's face instead of checking out (now) his son's car, he would have seen the pride in his eyes, the warmth and love that can only be for that one special person who wasn't Charlie.

As it was, John was busy looking for scratches and dents on the Impala. Finding none, he grunted, patted the hood twice before getting into the passenger seat so that they could go back to the motel. Dean rolled his eyes, got in the driver seat and texted Cas while starting the car.

_Hunts done. Coming back now._

After a minute, Cas called.

"Hey there." Dean spoke on the phone, keeping his voice low, even though his dad would hear him anyway,

"Hello Dean."

"Couldn't you wait until I got back?" Dean asked. He really didn't want to talk to Cas with his dad still beside him.

"Just. Could you go to Bobby's on the way?"

"Is something wrong?" He had John's complete attention now. The motel was still 5 more blocks away.

"No, I asked him to find a book for me, and he did. I didn't want to leave the bunker, and it won't be completely out of your way."

"I'll get it. Don't worry. It's been a while since I saw him anyway."

"Alright. Love you." Dean paused. Looked at his dad to see John looking at him with furrowed brows. He parked the car in front of the motel, his duffle already in the trunk.

"Yeah. You too." Cas hung up just as John opened the door to the passenger seat.

"Aren't you going to come in? We could have lunch before you leave?" John asked, he was clearly uncomfortable. Dean shook his head.

"Maybe next time. I need to pick some stuff at Bobby's before going back to Kansas." Dean really hoped there wouldn't be a next time. His dad just nodded, and left. Dean sighed before leaving too, He'll have lunch at the next Diner he sees.

Bobby's house was just like it always was. Constant and surrounded by junk cars. Dean wasn't even completely in the house before he was pulled in a one-arm hug by his more-or-less second dad.

"Hey, Bobby. Was running an errand for my boyfriend."

"Don't I know it. That idjit made me look for that book for days." Bobby said as they go inside. There was chilli on the stove, and Dean was hungry all over again. They had dinner first, discussing what was going on. Dean told Bobby about Sam and the hunt with John. Bobby told Dean about how Cas had been interested in souls lately,

"He says he's curious to what happens to in-betweens like him." Bobby said, and Dean tried not to frown, not to look worried, because there is very little Cas didn't tell Dean, and they had never talked about this particular issue. 

But, apparently, he wasn't that good at hiding his feelings anyway, because Bobby hit him with a kitchen towel right across his forehead.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, boy. That idjit just likes to read a lot." Dean nodded, still said nothing. That night, instead of sleeping, Dean read the book Cas had asked him to bring. It was old, all leather and parchment. _Souls : Their Journeys and Destinations_ it was titled.

Dean couldn't read the whole thing in one night, obviously. The thing was like 2000 pages, with no content page. But, he did read something interesting,

  
_It is written by the scribe of God that God made souls in pairs. Every soul belongs to another soul. It is also written by the scribe of God that were a soul to depart from it's vessel in a state of happy marriage, the soul would share it's heaven for an eternity with the soul it loves after the other soul has also departed from it's vessel._

_The Scribe also writes that the only way two souls that were united in love and marriage would not share a heaven would be if one or both the souls were to go to hell._

And really, Dean should not be have been thinking about this, because, now he was thinking about marrying Cas and spending an eternity with the only person he has ever loved. Because, he and Cas have been together for an year now, and that might not be too long by normal standards, but, they're hunters. Dean could die tomorrow, or on the next hunt, or the one after that, and the same could be for Cas, and if there is a chance by which they could be with each other even after dying, then why not?

God, he really shouldn't have thought about it.

Now he was going to get rings.

 

Castiel woke up in the morning sweating and shivering. Not that different from last morning. He had been letting Dean spoil him too much, to the point where he couldn't even sleep without getting nightmares unless the other man was laying beside him. Only, he couldn't seem to be able to regret it, because in a way, that made Dean his rock, and the idea of actually needing Dean everyday to the point of survival was exhilarating as much as it is terrifying. He looked at his phone were it was flashing silently. It was a text from Dean,

_I'll be an another hour. What do you want for lunch?_

Cas smiled, then bit his lip as he replied,

_You._

Not even a second after,

_Gimme half an_ _hour._

He laughed and got up, If Dean was going to be back soon, the least he could do was make lunch.

Dean came back in 45 minutes, grinning wide and making a bee-line to where Cas was making stew,

"Hey baby." Dean murmured, his arms going around Cas' side, his chin resting on broad shoulders.

"How was your father?" Cas asked, Dean made a semi-grunt, semi-sigh sound in response. Cas snorted, "Very eloquent of you."

"I don't want to talk about my dad right now." Dean said, kissed his cheek. Cas switched off the stove, no way he was going to be able to concentrate on cooking with Dean behind him. He turned around in his arms, and pulled Dean further into him by his belt loops,

"What do you want to talk about?" Dean frowned at him, hands coming over to cup his cheeks whilst thumbs lightly massaged the bags under his eyes,

"You don't look very good." Cas smirked, "Gee, Dean, You sure know how to make a man feel better." Dean smiled, and kissed him, just a press of lips against lips,

"Come on, we're taking you back to bed." Cas didn't argue, having barely slept these past two days, and Dean was warm and here, so he was going to take advantage of that. 

They slept for who knows how long, but, when Cas woke up next, safe and sound instead of sweaty and shivering, the sun was down and Dean was staring at him weirdly,

"You do know you can talk to me about anything, don't you?" Dean asked, and even Cas' sleep muddled brain could tell hat he was talking about.

"Bobby told you about the book?" Dean nodded, then cleared his throat, "I read some of it."

"Oh? Did you learn anything interesting?" Dean was still looking at him like that, with so much warmth, Cas felt like he was burning, He buried his face in the crook of Dean's neck, felt Dean's fingers combing through his hair,

"I want to marry you."

  
Neither of them were breathing, Dean's fingers running through his hair felt mechanical, as if he was trying his hardest to feel unaffected. It made Cas smile, because, this was commitment, and there was no way Dean Winchester would not be affected by commitment.

"Okay." Cas replied, and felt more than heard the sigh that escaped Dean's lips.

"Okay?" He repeated, not believing, not wanting to hope but can't helping it.

"I'll marry you."

Suddenly, Dean was sitting, Cas turned to face him, smiling up at him with those gorgeous out of the world blue eyes, his hair messy and face all warm and sleepy,

"Are you sure?" Dean stuttered, because it is one thing thinking it, and another to actually know that Cas is willing to spend the rest of his life with him.

"I don't think there can be anybody else after you. I don't want there to be." Cas replied and sat up too, "I love you, so much. I need you more than you would ever think possible. I don't know whether it's a good thing or not, but, I can't without you. Anything."

Dean was staring at him, eyes open and wondrous. Suddenly, he leapt out of bed, going for his jacket, then plopped down again, this time right in front of Cas,

"Marry me right now. Please." Dean said and took out the two rings from his jacket pocket. Cas grinned.

"Okay." And Dean was about to place one of the rings on his ring finger when Cas spoke, "Wait."

"Oh God." Dean was going to die. Right now, right this instant. Cas dipped his head so as to meet Dean's eyes,

"Do you want them to say something?" Dean looked up, eyes shining, and all but yelled,

"Hell yes!" Cas chuckled, placing Dean's hand in his before placing both the rings and covering them up with his other hand,

"Alright, Just close your eyes and think about what you want them to say. I'll wear the one with your engraving. If it's something about how grumpy I am when I am sleepy, I'll divorce you."

Dean laughed, then closed his eyes. He didn't have to think at all. There was just that one word that described what Cas was to him perfectly, and Cas would remember it everytime he saw the ring.

_"et sculpes in corde meo_ " Cas muttered, and heat rose from the rings, enough for Dean to jerk slightly, but, it was gone as soon as it happened, and Dean stared at the engravings the were so similar and yet so different,

_My home_. Dean had thought of, and he saw Cas gingerly pick it up, twirl it around his fingers before smiling widely and kissing Dean soundly. Dean pulled away, picking up the other ring, turning it around and feeling tears in his eyes as he read the words,

_My Haven._

They exchanged rings, and just like that, Dean was now a married man. He looked at Cas, unable to lose the grin on his face, he pushed Cas down on the bed, crawling up to see Cas' eyes blown dark with love and lust,

"How about some celebratory sex, hubby?"

 

When Charlie came back, the boys were eating their stew, still not quite caught up about the fact that they were now actually honest-to-God married, but, over the moon happy none the less, Charlie took one look on their faces before grinning too,

"So what did I miss."

"Well Charlie," Dean said, and picked up Cas' left hand with his own, " Let me introduce you to Castiel Collins Winchester."

Charlie's jaw dropped, She looked at Dean's face, to the rings, to Cas, before clapping her hand to her mouth and breathing out in awe,

"Oh my God." She turned to Cas now, glaring, "I leave you alone for like half a day and what do you do? You get fucking married?! How is this even fair! I wanted to be the flower girl!"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, It's not really legal, since according to the government, Castiel Collins never really existed, and Dean Winchester has already been presumed dead twice."

Really, these two were made for each other.


	15. Meeting The Campbells

The next few weeks flew by in celebration and all-over happiness. Dean hadn't thought about either Sam or his Dad too much, and was just enjoying his time with his husband. And wasn't that just fucking weird? his husband. Castiel Collins Winchester. God, how the fuck did Dean get so damn lucky?

And of course, since Dean was happy and lucky and light and warm, life just had to ruin it by sending another hunt their way. 

Now, Don't get Dean wrong. He loves hunting. It's in his blood. And hunting with Cas is like 10 times better, even with shitty diner food and shittier motel rooms. Cas makes everything 10 times better. What wasn't good was what happened after the hunt.

It started of with a series of disappearances in Durant, Oklahoma. All males, all 16 or above, all of them in a relationship. Dean had been sure it was a vengeful spirit, but, they had no idea whose. But, turns out, after asking around the town for two whole days, trying to hide their rings under biker gloves (because drunk horny single people talk much faster) they realised that it was a Woman In White.

"Me and my dad had to deal with one before." Dean told Cas when they were at the bar. Dean waiting to hustle pool and Cas the same for darts.

"Yeah? How'd you figure it out." Cas asked, Dean shrugged.

"She caught dad. Told him he had been unfaithful. I was so angry when I found out, But, he said he only got in another relationship after mum died."

"How's that being unfaithful?" Dean shrugged again,

"I dunno? He was still hung up on her? No clue." Cas knew when to change the topic.

"How'd you get rid of it?" Dean grinned, "I burned her grave. Simple salt and burn."

And that's what they had been planning on doing too. Quickly, they paid for the food, deciding to come back tomorrow to earn some cash and drove down to the local cemetery.

Only, they weren't the only ones who wanted to burn bones that night. Before Dean knew it, he had a shot pointed at his back, Cas pointing his own at whoever was standing behind Dean,

"I'm guessing you guys are hunters too? Here to play Camp-fire with Mrs.Mudsin?" Dean asked, hoping these weren't one of those shoot fire never mind the questions hunters. Not that Cas would let Dean die, but, the last thing they wanted was someone calling the police because of a shoot-out in the middle of a Graveyard at 2 in the morning.  
Slowly, the gun lowered, not before holy water was splashed down the back of his neck, Dean shivered, Cas splashed his holy water square in the other guy's face with a glare and Dean heard him splutter and snort as he tried to cough the water out. _Go husband!_

"Who are you guys?"

Dean turned around to look at the guy, in his mid-thirties with (honestly speaking) quite boring features,

"I'm Dean. This is Cas. Who're you?"

"Christian. Christian Campbell." Alright James Bond, Dean thought, but, just nodded.

"Look man, We were just going to burn the bones. You can either leave this to us, or help out. The more people, the faster the digging."  
Just then, Another person came up, a woman this time, probably related to the other guy. She looked at both Dean and Cas in turns, then turned to Christian,

"Did you hire models and forgot to tell me?" Cas snorted,

"Dean is very pretty, isn't he?" Dean glared at him, Cas just winked at him and turned to start digging. Christian explained the situation to his (Dean found out) sister Gwen who just really wouldn't stop staring at Dean's back. Cas seemed to notice, He came over to where Dean had been taking a break, keeping his eyes on Gwen, he leaned in close to whisper in his ears, 

"So... I know you really aren't a fan of PDA..." Dean laughed, knowing where this was going, and pulled Cas in for a sound kiss,

"I was wondering how long it would take for your resolve to crumble." Cas grinned, looking over at Gwen who was looking over at the two of them with her jaw hanging open. Cas, that smug bastard winked at her, kissing Dean one last time before picking up the shovel again and joining Christian in the last of the digging.

After the bones were burned and the spirit rested, Christian suggested that they go have dinner together at one of the 24/7 diners,

"So.. how long have you been together?" Gwen asked them when they sat down at one of the booths. Dean looked at Cas, who was staring at the menu, he turned back to Gwen and smiled (probably a bit love-sick but Dean wasn't going to admit it)

"I bit over a year. Got married a month ago." Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"Married? Aren't you a bit young for that?" Dean shrugged.

"I'm 28. But, hunters aren't really known for a long lifespan." 

That's when the waitress came over with their food. The boys removed the glove on their left hand, now dirty with mud and gasoline, and dug in. Christian was a quiet person by nature, much like Cas, but, Gwen kept up the chatter, mentioning her family history and hunting heritage. It wasn't until she mentioned Samuel Campbell, her Grand father, that Dean choked.

"That's my mum's dad." Dean said. Cas looked over from his milkshake, suddenly really interested in the conversation.

"No way! You're Dean Winchester?" Dean nodded. Even Christian seemed speechless.

"Dude, Sam doesn't shut up about you!" Christian finally spoke.

"Wait, you know where he is?" 

"Yeah. Found him on a hunt a few months ago. Was looking for a demon. He's been staying with us ever since. You guys should come with us, He talks about you all the time."

"Yeah well, If he wants to talk I am only a phone call away." Dean said. Cas elbowed him in the ribs before turning back to Christian,

"We'd love to come. I need to talk to Sam anyways." Dean glared at Cas, who just raised an eyebrow back. Dean got up, tugging Cas over to the bathroom area,

"Excuse me, Need to talk to _my husband_ for a bit." Dean was looking at Cas as he said it, and before Gwen or Christian could reply, they were already out of the booth.

"Alright, What just happened?" Dean asked, leaning over the sinks whilst giving Cas a glare. Cas rolled his eyes,

"You need to talk to your brother, and so do I"

"About what?"

"You need to talk to him about why he left. I need to talk to him about a cleansing spell I found to remove all the Demon blood." Dean blinked,

"You didn't tell me about that." Cas shrugged,

"I didn't want to bring Sam up after he left. It was clearly bothering you." There was a tense moment, before Dean let out a breath, pulling Cas in for a hug,

"Alright. We'll go. But, we'll have to tell him about you if we're going to use a spell."

"If your brother is anything like you, I don't think that will be a problem." Dean smiled,

"I love you." Cas pulled away a little, "I know."

 

They followed the Campbell siblings in the Impala, with Dean humming Metallica under his breath because that's what he does when he's nervous and Cas trying to make sure that Dean doesn't have a panic attack.

"He's your brother, Dean, what is the worst that could happen?"

"I dunno, Cas. Maybe he doesn't actually wanna see me and will run away again."

"You and I both know that the last time that happened, it wasn't your fault. And the first time it happened, it was John's."

"Yeah, but, what if it's mine this time?"

"You're being ridiculous."

"Hey, you promised to stick with this for the rest of your life, so suck it."

"I'm not complaining."

 

The Campbells lived in a two-storey house with a white picket fence surrounded by basically nothing. It was weird, like a house from one of the suburban areas had just been dropped down in the middle of an empty field. Dean would have laughed at it if he wasn't so busy controlling his breathing.

Sam came out when he heard two engines instead of one. He looked pale and haunted, like he hadn't eaten in days even though Dean was pretty sure that Gwen and Christian wouldn't starve him. When he saw the Impala, Sam froze, and remained frozen as Dean came over,

"You don't look very good." Dean told him, looking Sam up and down. Dude looked like he was going to fall over any moment.

"Withdrawal symptoms." Sam replied simply. They stood like that then, until Castiel came over and stood beside him,

"A hug might help." Cas said, and that's all the brothers needed, Dean pulled Sam over in a manly-man brother hug, and Sam let himself go and relax. Another eternity went by before both of them pulled back.

"I can do something about the blood. Let's go in." Cas said to Sam and Dean, and they went back in. Gwen and Christian were in the living room drinking beers. They offered a couple to the boys, Cas was about to chug it down when he sniffed it, he froze.

"Something wrong?" Dean whispered to him, Cas licked his lips, thanking his lucky stars for the close call,

"Holy oil." He whispered back, and in a second, he bottle was snatched from his hands, Dean was looking at it in disgust, as if they didn't spike the beers in the bunker with holy water.

Christian was looking at Castiel with a frown,

"You aren't human are you?" He spoke, but, didn't pick up a weapon.

"Not completely." Cas replied with a nod.

"You're not?" Sam's eyes bugged out, he turned to Dean, "And you knew?"

"Of course I know. Cas' dad is an angel. His mom was a high-priestess. A witch."

Gwen was gawking at Cas, then at Dean,

"And you married him?"

"You're fucking married?!?!" That was Sam.

It took 10 minutes of reassuring the Campbells and Sam, and the cliff notes version of Cas' past to calm things down. Once Christian bought in a non-spiked beer for Cas, Sam began speaking.

"So, this spell, It's not black magic?"

"No. Neither will I borrow powers from a demon. It's actually just using basic herbs and using a bit of natural talent in spell work for catalysing the effects. It will hurt, because it will be burning all the bad blood, but, It is a one-time ritual, you'll be as pure as a new-born after it."

Sam thought about it a moment, then sighed,

"Alright. When do we start?"

 

When everybody was busy preparing a room for the cleansing, Cas finally got an opportunity to talk to Christian alone,

"So, what gives?" Cas asked, Christian looked at him weirdly, making Cas sigh, "Dean just told you I was an angel-witch hybrid, and you didn't even raise a switch-blade. A bit suspicious if you ask me."

Christian looked away, before steeling himself and looking at Castiel with pained eyes,

"Our brother, Mark, he was bitten by a werewolf 3 months ago. He hasn't eaten a heart even though it is in his nature to do so. I believe that monsters can be good, and well, You are married to a hunter, so you really can't be that bad."

Castiel nodded, then suddenly grabbed Christian's arm,

"Did you say he hasn't fed yet?"

"What?!"

"Your brother. He hasn't fed on hearts yet?"

"No. He said that he would rather kill himself."

"I can help him." Christian was staring at him wide-eyed, but, he didn't say anything, Castiel took it as his cue to continue, "See, what turns a human to a werewolf is the saliva that enters the bloodstream after getting bitten. So, If using a cleansing spell, similar to Sam's but, not exactly identical, I can probably clean the veins. Once a werewolf feeds though, it becomes more wolf than human, so , It won't work if he has fed."

Christian was silent, processing the words and wondering how to thank this man in front of him,

"You aren't kidding." He stuttered out, when Cas shook his head grinning widely, Christian all but tackled him in a bear-hug, and did not pull away until a throat cleared behind him,

"Hey," Dean spoke, looking back and forth between Christian and Cas with a confused frown on his face, "We cleared the space and drew the pentagram. It's all you from now."  
Cas smiled at him, kissing him on his cheek as a thank you before joining the others in the attic.

"I'll need to call uncle Gabriel. He can bring in the herbs I don't have." Castiel said casually, Dean nodded, already have met the arch-angel on several occasions. He was a bit disappointed to be fair, you don't imagine a 5'7 midget with a love for candy to be an arch-angel. Sam was staring at Cas open-mouthed as the other man prayed. They seemed to be having a conversation in their minds, and then, after a moment, there was a bag of ingredients on the coffee table.

"Is he too busy to show up?" Dean asked, Cas snorted and looked up from where he was going through the bag,

"If you consider having a foursome being busy, then , sure, Gabriel is a very busy man." Dean laughed, Sam was looking at the two of them with wide eyes,

"I have some very crazy new members of the family now."

Cas thanked heaven Sam didn't know who his father was.

 

The cleansing spell took the whole night, and Sam's voice was hoarse from screaming by the end of it. He did look a bit better by the time the sun rose though, and after clearing everything up, everybody retreated to their bedrooms, Dean and Cas setting up in a spare one with only a single bed.

Cas told Dean about Mark and what he was planning, and Dean told Cas about how he did need some time to catch up with his brother after all these years. So, they decided to stay in the Campbell house for a few days before leaving for the bunker again.

 


	16. John Finds Out

John had almost died while hunting a Wendigo if it were not for this one random hunter who had just happened to be hunting the same creature. He had thought that he could take a Wendigo by himself, he had not expected for them to be preying in pairs. The second Wendigo was about to jump him when the young man came out of nowhere with a freaking flame thrower and killed it.

  
John was in someone's debt and he didn't like it.

"Who're you?" He asked, his voice gruff.

"Names Christian. Christian Campbell. And yourself?"

"John Winchester." John thought about thanking the guy for saving his life, but, it just didn't sit right.

"Man, I've been picking up a lot of Winchesters these days." John frowned,

"What the hell does that mean?" Christian sighed,

"I'm guessing you're related to Dean and Sam Winchester?"

"There my boys. But, how the hell do you know Sam? He's in college."

"Not the last time I checked. He stays with my sister and I in our safe house. We're are relatives of your wife." John looked at him with suspicious eyes, doubting every word he said, but, in the end, the urge to see his youngest son overcame every other thought, and John grabbed his arm,

"I want to see him. My son." Christian looked a bit weirded out, but, he nodded.

"Alright. Dean is there too. If we leave now we will reach there by late afternoon."

John nodded, and together they made their way out of the woods.

 

Dean had been cleaning up the engine of the Impala when Cas came out of the safe-house. He looked tired. Good, but tired. Dean quickly cleaned his greasy hands on a greasier rag before pulling Cas to him, shutting down the hood of his baby with his other hand,

"How is he?" Dean asked, ever since Christian had called his brother with the good news, Cas and Mark had been working on curing him. It had been a slow process, but, there was definite improvement.

"He can eat cooked meat now. And I don't think he'll lose control on the full moon." Dean was so proud. He always had been, but, now, after seeing Cas in his element, mixing potions and chanting spells to help others without a single thought of compensation, Dean was like a mama bear, coddling him every chance he got.

Even now, Dean's hands moved over to Cas' shoulders, his fingers pressing the tight muscles on the back of his neck, Cas groaned, his head dropping on Dean's shoulder and kissing the skin exposed by the tank top he was wearing.

After 10 minutes of massage and kissing necks, Cas was over it and needed Dean's lips against his own. He pulled away slightly, Dean's hands sliding down his shoulders, to his upper arms, to his forearms like rain drops before interlocking their fingers, a slight clink where their wedding rings clashed. Cas closed the gap between their mouths, lips moving in sync as if they had done it a thousand times before, because they had. Dean's right hand came up to Cas' waist, they were treading dangerous waters here. They were out in the open, clearly in the view if anybody in the house decided to look out of the window, But, for the life of Dean, he could not stop. Every day was like the first day with Cas. Every kiss like the first kiss. And the desperation just refused to go away no matter how many hours and days and kisses they shared.

It was infuriating and thrilling and exciting and terrible. Dean loved it.

Though, if there was one voice in this whole universe that could make Dean stop kissing Cas at the moment, it was that gruff, I-smoke-a-pack-a-day voice that Dean had known to recognise and fear since he was four-years-old that had just spoken his name,

Cas pulled away from Dean, his eyes landing on another man, Christian standing behind him looking confused. John Winchester looked scandalised. He felt fury boil his blood like red-hot lava, He looked at Dean with disgust. His oldest son kissing another man like some kind of homeless faggot. He turned to the other man then, he had the nerve to corrupt his son, the nerve to turn him into something unnatural. Before anyone could realise what was happening, John strode over to where Castiel stood, a hand still linked with Dean's, and punched him in the face, his protection ring making a nice gash across Cas' cheek.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you asshole!" Dean yelled, stepping forward so that Cas was behind him, but, it was too late. John saw, eyes wide, as the gash began to heal itself, skin pulling back up until Cas' cheek was completely unblemished except a thin white line.

"What the fuck are you?" John breathed, then got angry again, angrier this time, "I knew my son wasn't a fag! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM, YOU MONSTER!"

Dean punched him in the face then. For a lot of reasons. For hitting Cas, for calling Dean a fag, For hitting Cas, for controlling Dean all these years, For hitting Cas, for pushing Sam to the point where he had to run away multiple times, For hitting Cas... Really, Dean hit his dad for hitting Cas.

John looked at his son with wide eyes, a hand coming over to his nose with was bleeding profusely. Dean looked angry, angrier than he had ever looked before. He narrowed his eyes, he taught his son better than that. Better than letting his emotions play on his face,

"HOW DARE YOU!" John screamed, and he probably would have continued screaming if it hadn't been for Sam, who having heard all the commotion had come out holding a baseball bat. With one loud _thump_ , John Winchester was down for the count, guaranteed to stay that way for at least the next 24 hours.

No body spoke, moments passed before Christian cleared his throat,

"I'm sorry. I didn't know your dad was... you know..."

"A homophobic asshole?" Dean asked, scowling, "Yeah, It's alright man. We can't stay though." Dean turned to Cas, who was looking at the whole scene with calm eyes. This is why Dean loved him. He could expect Cas to be calm in almost any crisis. Dean's hand reached out, fingers trailing over the scar that should never have been there (no matter how hot Dean would find it later)

"I'm sorry." He whispered, but, Cas heard him none the less. His blue eyes were narrowed in determination when they found Dean's sad ones,

"It's not your fault." Cas says sharply, in a voice that he knows Dean can't help but listen too. It's been ingrained in Dean's brain like a million other obvious things are. The Sun rose from the East. Demons left traces of Sulphur. Castiel Novak (now) Winchester did not and will not lie to Dean.

"Are you alright?" Dean asked him instead.

"I'm perfectly fine. I should be asking you that."

"My dad just found out I'm not straight, he hit my husband in the face and now he's passed out because my younger brother hit him on the head with a baseball bat. I'm fucking peachy." Cas rolled his eyes, coming over to wrap his arms around Dean.

"You should be glad I know your code words. 'I'm fucking peachy' always means 'I need a hug'." Cas murmured in Dean's shoulder. Dean sighed, wrapping his arms around Cas back,

"And that, baby, Is why I agreed to marry you."

"Agreed? Dean, you are the one who proposed." Cas felt Dean shrug,

"Technicalities."

Behind them, Sam cleared his throat,

"Dean, as much as I love having you around, and Cas is practically my best friend at this point, and really I would never trade either of you for Dad any day, I still think it would be better if you went back to your bunker. Just a few days till all this blows over. I'll try to talk to dad, but, he probably won't listen to me anyway."

Dean nodded stiffly at him trying not to show how much he didn't want to leave his brother again. With a manly-man hug and a quick share of 'I'm sorry, Man.' and 'not your fault' with Christian, Dean went over to the driver's seat. Cas talked to Christian for a bit longer, reporting the progress and telling him all the details of the after-care before joining Dean in the passenger seat.

They were silent throughout the first half-an-hour before Dean couldn't take it anymore,

"Something on your mind, Cas?" Cas didn't look at him, opting to look at the darkening woods surrounding the highway instead.

"You know I didn't use a spell on you, don't you?" Dean huffed a laugh,

"I know Cas. You don-"

"I'm just saying, Love potions come under black magic, and I'd never use it." Dean pulled over at the side with a sigh. Sometimes, he feels like kicking himself for being so blind.

Of course this was bothering Cas. John Winchester might not be a good father, but, he had always had a way to get into a person's mind in the most horrible ways. Dean pulled Cas to him till the other man was practically in his lap, Cas still wouldn't look at him directly, but, Dean could see the blue shining with unshed tears,

"Cas, hey baby, look at me," Cas did, and a stray traitorous tear fell down his cheek, "Hush baby, I know you didn't use magic. It's too real, what we have. What I feel for you. It's too real to not be real."

That seemed to break a dam, and Cas, his strong and calm Cas began sobbing against his chest. Dean felt a new wave of resentment growing for his father, for hurting Cas, both physically and emotionally.

"I love you, Cas. I love you so much." Dean whispered in his ear, rubbing his back and holding back his own tears.


	17. The Demon Deal

John Winchester was known for his rash decisions in the hunter community. Even though suspicion came as a second nature to him, John himself never doubted or second guessed his decisions. Even if those decisions were made under the influence of rage, despair, alcohol, or all three. So, when John drove over to the nearest crossroads, ready to sell his soul for what he thought was the happiness of his oldest son, He thought he would be thanked and appreciated. He saw no wrong in the greatest wrong of all. He saw no wrong in sending an innocent soul to hell.

He stumbled over to the middle centre of the crossroads, his vision blurry and hands shaking, He dug a hole and buried the box before filling the hole back up. When he got back up, his body was shaking, from anger, from disgust, from what Dean had become and from what he was about to do.

He spun around at the sound of footsteps, a woman, in her prime thirties walked towards him, wearing a skin tight dress that barely stretched past her mid-thighs, and stilettoes that seemed to go on for miles. This. This was the kind of girl the Dean he knew would go for. Not some monster with a dick.

"John Winchester, " The demon purred, "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting your clinically unstable ass?" She stopped right in front of him, and he caught her by her arm. If he wasn't so completely wasted, he would have thought to come armed, but, right now, all he could think was to send that monster where he belongs.

"I want to make a deal." He told her, his voice slow and slurred.

"Oh?" The demon raised a perfect eyebrow, a smile tugging at her lips, "A deal, eh? Alright, I'll humour you. What is it that you want, hunter?"

"There's a monster with my boy. Turned him into a lowly fag. Send his soul to hell."

The demon was surprised. To sacrifice ones own soul to damn another's to hell? That was a new level of insane even in her experience. 

"Okay. You've got yourself a deal. In 10 years time, I'll come back to collect your soul. You will spend an eternity in hell. I'm not one to question people's motives, but, even I think what you are doing is pretty stupid."

"Shut the fuck up!" John growled and pulled her to him to seal the deal with a kiss. The demon read his memories while their lips were connected. Saw the monster he was talking about and jerked back,

"That was Castiel." She breathed, John grunted in response. She shook her head, "Castiel is not someone you want to mess with, John. There are powerful beings who want him to live."

"We have a deal." John replied in clipped tones. To hell with the 'powerful beings'. Not even God himself can make him change his mind.

"We do. It will take me a week to bring his soul to hell. After that, I would have uphold my end of the bargain. I would say pleasure doing business with you, John, But, I am afraid my master would not be proud of what I've done today."

With that, the demon disappeared, Leaving John alone, confused but, satisfied.

 

Someone nudged Castiel out of his sleep, he opened his eyes to see Gabriel standing beside his bed, his expression grave. Cas was about to say something when Gabriel placed a finger on his lips. Slowly, Castiel got up, careful not to wake the body wrapped behind him. Dean gave a grunt, and tightened his arms before loosening them again, Cas slipped out of the embrace, and Dean rolled over, subconsciously seeking warmth that wasn't there.

Both Gabriel and Castiel walked out of the room, once in the solitude of the kitchen, Cas spoke,

"What are you doing at 3:00 am in my bedroom." Gabriel looked grave, Cas noticed then, there were tear tracks on his cheeks, his hair ruffled and no candy seen anywhere, "What's wrong, Uncle Gabe?"

"What's wrong, Uncle Gabe?"

"John Winchester." Gabriel said, then took a deep breath, "John Winchester made a deal with a demon."

There was an intake of breath, It took a minute for Cas to realise that it was him,

"He wished for me to die?" Cas asked, already knowing the answer, but, Gabriel shook his head,

"Worse." The arch-angel said, and his voice shook, Castiel suddenly felt ice in his veins, "He wished for you to go to hell."

Cas couldn't breathe, couldn't see, maybe he was dying already. It took a minute to get his mouth working, but, when he did, his voice didn't sound like his own,

"How long do I have?" Castiel asked, Gabriel was crying now, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. Castiel was like a son to him. His kin, his blood. He was the last thing that connected Gabriel to his brother, and now, he was losing Castiel to the same place.

"A week." Cas swallowed, then nodded. 

"Dean cannot know." Cas said, and Gabriel begged him with his eyes, begging Castiel to react, to cry, to do anything a normal person would do if he were to die. To go to hell. But, Cas just stood there, stock still, as if waiting for time to break and hell-hounds to arrive. He was calm during crisis. He was solid and warm. This was why he had made a soul as bright as Dean Winchester's fall in love with him. Castiel was constant. He was always and everything. 

But, now he won't be no more.

"I understand." Gabriel said, his wings curled in on themselves, and he allowed them this moment of weakness. "Are you okay?" Gabriel asked, only to hear Cas say 'no' because he couldn't see it.

"I married Dean." Castiel said instead, closing his eyes shut so tears wouldn't fall. "We married so that we could be together even after we died." Tears were falling now, Castiel kept his voice low, and soft, not wanting to wake him up, "Now, we can't." He looked at Gabriel who was crying too, "I do not care that I am going to hell. Just that I won't be with Dean wherever I go."

"I tried everything I could to stop it, Cassie." Gabriel said in his mind, he didn't trust his voice, "But, we cannot control free will, no matter how cruel it is." Cas smiled at him, all watery and fake,

"I understand. I have a week, don't I?" When Gabriel nodded, Cas sighed, "I would like to spend it with Dean. On the last day, would you take me away? I know there will be hell hounds. I want you to bury me before Dean finds me in that condition."

"Castiel.." Gabriel begged, why wouldn't Castiel break? why wouldn't he shout and yell at how unfair all of this is? Why did he just accept his fate.

"I will not spend a week trying to prevent the inevitable. I just ask this of you, Uncle Gabe. Do not tell Dean who made the deal. He does not need to lose more family than he already has."

Gabriel pursed his lips, because the last thing John was, was family. Instead, he flew back to heaven where time flew faster on his will, and he waited for the moment when he would have to deliver the news to his favourite human.

 

When Cas came back to bed, Dean was awake and sitting up, Cas' heart beat faster, what if Dean heard everything? What will Dean do?

"Where did you go?" Dean asked, his voice heavy with sleep. Cas let out a breath of relief.

"Kitchen. I got hungry." Cas crawled back up in bed, and Dean lowered himself, arms reaching over to pull Castiel closer. They stayed like that in silence for two beats before Castiel spoke up,

"Dean?" Dean _hmmed_ in response, eyes closed. "Thank you for marrying me." Dean tightened his grip on Castiel, and that was answer enough.

Castiel did not sleep that night. He stared at the man before him, memorising every crease and line, every freckle and every crevice. He memorised the shade of pink those lips were, memorised the colour of his skin. He memorised the feel of his hair as Cas ran his hand through it. He memorised the solid weight, branded the love he felt in his soul. If nothing, Cas would die with the memory of Dean, and exist the whole eternity with these imprints.

Dean woke up to Cas looking at him with soft eyes, he groaned and buried his face in his husband's shoulder,

"Since when did you start getting up so early?" He mumbled, as Cas' hands ran up and down his spine, causing shivers to run through his body,

"We should take a vacation." Cas answered. Dean pulled away to look at him, "Just for a week. Let's go somewhere."

"Alright." Dean replied. That sounded good. With all the drama with Sam and his dad, a vacations sounded amazing. A week isn't that long anyway, tey wouldn't miss too many cases. And hell, maybe, once the vacation's over, they can talk about bying there own house. "Where do you want to go?" Dean asked him, Cas thought about it for a moment, then shrugged,

"I don't mind anywhere as long as you are with me." Cas replied. Dean grinned at him, all cheesy and sweet,

"You are such a sap." He said and Cas scoffed at him, also smiling,

"Yeah, but, I'm your sap."


	18. The Last Days Of Castiel Winchester

Cas and Dean decided to spend the week just cruising along without a destination in mind. It was perfect in Dean's opinion, not having to think about turns and towns, just driving along the open roads in his Chevy Impala with good music and an even better company. It was going to be the best week of his life, he was sure of it.

Castiel tried to pretend nothing was bothering him, that he wasn't spending his very last days. Dean was happy and smiling, and that was what mattered. Cas spent as much time as he possibly could looking at Dean without being completely creepy. He looked at him when Dean was singing at the top of his lungs driving, when Dean would throw himself on the motel bed with a sigh, when Dean would be too busy selecting which pie he wanted to eat. Cas would read his expressions, learn them, and fall in love over and over again. He squeezed in years worth of love in hours, made every touch count, every word precious and real and true.

Castiel may not be happy, but, he was content. 

It was the 3rd day of the week when Cas thought he felt something staring at him, he looked behind him, but, he and Dean were alone in the room and Dean was sleeping. Cas turned back to where he was reading and sighed. Four more days to go. He had only finished one more line of the book when he heard it,

A growl, so loud he was afraid it would shatter windows, he stood abruptly, turned around to where the door was closed and locked, he could hear the paws scratching, he turned back to the bed, Dean was still sleeping. Cas walked over to the other man, quietly ran his hands through the dirty blond hair and willed his eyes to not cry. He knew this was coming. He was going to hell, the hounds were to be expected. He had not realised that he would be hearing them before his final day though. There are still 4 days left, and it's already this bad, and after this, it could only get worse.

If he wants to have enough time with Dean, they'll have to hurry. With a deep breath, he shakes Dean awake,

"Mmm, Cas? What are you doing? It's 3'oclock." Cas swallowed the lump in his throat before speaking,

"Dean, Let's go star gazing."

Dean turned around to look at him, all squinty eyed and soft face, he must have seen something in Castiel's eyes, he got up, rubbed his face before pulling Cas down so that they were sitting face to face,

"Cas, You alright?" Cas tried to smile, he didn't want to worry Dean, didn't want him to be suspicious,

"Yes, I just want to go star gazing." Dean rubbed the bags under Cas' eyes with his thumbs, Cas tried to ignore the growling and the scratches, but, he moved closer to Dean till their foreheads touched. Dean smiled back, just a little hesitantly,

"Okay. We'll go star gazing. Let me freshen up first, alright?" Cas nodded and got up so that Dean could do the same, when both of them were ready, Cas stepped back, waited for Dean to open the door, shut his eyes closed when the knob turned even though he knew there would be nothing on the other side,

"Cas," Dean called from outside, Cas smiled at him, Dean was looking at him with a frown, "Are you coming or what?"

"Yeah. Coming."

 

When both of them were settled on top of the hood of the Impala, beers in hands and staring at the sky, Cas finally let a breath out, The hounds had stopped. For now. Cas could feel Dean's eyes on him, could feel the gaze heavy with worry, Cas turned to him with a smirk,

"It's called star gazing because you gaze at the stars." Cas said, but, Dean still looked serious,

"You haven't been sleeping enough." Dean stated it like a fact, but, Cas could see the question in those green eyes,

"I'm so glad I met you." Dean pouted, and then scoffed, "Flattery will get you nowhere, Mister." he said, but his lips were begging to smile,

"It's not flattery." Cas replied and reached for Dean's hand, playing with his fingers and turned to look at the stars again, "I love you very much." 

Cas was sure he had dodged a bullet when Dean turned to look at te stars too, but then, Dean sighed,

"I wish you would tell me what was bothering you."

"Right here, right now, nothing is bothering me." There was a pause. then,

"Okay." Dean said, his voice quiet.

"Okay." Cas replied.

 

It wasn't until the 6th day that the hallucinations started. Suddenly, every dog or cat on the street was 6 ft big with teeth like sharks, and eyes red like rubies. Cas kept his eyes down, and concentrated on Dean's voice as he guided both of them through the busy streets of Palm-high Valley. Cas tried to ignore the growls, the fake lunges, the bared teeth and the lolling tongues, his grip on Dean's hand tighten, and he breathed faster, deeper, suddenly, Dean turned and Cas was pulled into a tiny alleyway,

"Okay Cas, what's wrong? You look like you're going to have a panic attack." Dean looked worried and angry, and Cas knew he was stretching his luck and Dean's patience by dodging the question, but, the last thing he wanted was Dean to be worried or angry during the last hours of his life.

"Nothing's wrong, Dean. I'm just tired." Cas said. Dean's jaw tightened, his stance rigid. Dean was gearing for a fight, but, Cas really didn't have any energy or will for one.

"Why won't you tell me what's wrong? You've been acting weird since the beginning of this road trip. You hardly eat, or sleep, all you do is look at me and smile. Hell, Cas, you're starting to look like you're dying, and I don't know what to do!"

It took all Cas had to not flinch at his words. Every part of his being to not start crying like a baby and confess every thought, every feeling, how he felt so small and scared and weak, instead, Cas looked at Dean with watery eyes, and felt more than saw Dean's stance dissolve,

"Just give me this one day, okay? Just today." Cas said, and knew when Dean sighed, that he had bought himself enough time. Dean pulled him in a kiss then, all teeth and tongue and hard and bruising, showing all his frustrations and anger without speaking a word,

"Fine." Dean said, pulling away and breathing hard, "But, tomorrow, you're telling me what the hell is going on."

Cas just smiled.

 

Dean woke up at 12:30 am in bed, all alone. He looked over at the rest of the motel, and his eyes landed on the bathroom, it was closed, but, the light was on. Good, Cas had been acting weird, so he hadn't known what to think, but, ofcourse Cas was in the bathroom.

Dean waited in silence, 5 minutes passed, 10, no noise from the bathroom. Impatient, he got up, and knocked,

"Cas, come on, baby, wha-" The door gave way and opened with a creek, the light was on, but, the rest of the room was untouched. Dean turned around and opened the closet, no Cas, under the bed, no Cas, under the carpet (and now he was being ridiculous) but, no Cas.

He didn't leave Dean, did he?

Dean opened the door to the motel, but, the Impala was right there, but, Cas could have taken the bus. Oh God, what if he left Dean? What was Dean going to do? Why did Cas leave? What did Dean do?

Dean walked back in the room, his eyes watery and bottom lip trembling, Wasn't Cas happy? He didn't look very happy in the last few days, and Dean had tried to talk about it, God knows he had tried. But, Cas always smiled at him, always kissed him in the morning, always told him he loved Dean before going to bed, tonight, especially, he had said it over and over again.

What did Dean do?

Just then, Dean heard the familiar sound of wings, Dean turned around, and almost choked with excitement when he saw Gabriel, but then, he saw how Gabe looked, and all the excitement turned to dread.

The hilarious, candy-eating trickster looked like he hadn't stopped crying in an eternity.

"Gabriel, Where's Cas?" Gabriel wouldn't meet his eyes, but, he took a deep breath and spoke in a voice that was anything but steady,

"He's in hell. Castiel's dead and in hell."

If words could break a person's world these were Dean Winchester's.

"What are you talking about?" Dean wanted to shout, to yell, but, his voice wouldn't rise more than a whisper. Suddenly, the last week made sense, the vacation, the not eating, not sleeping, looking at Dean like it was the last time he would ever look at him. It all made sense and Dean was starting to wonder that maybe he was dead too and this was his personal hell,

"H-how?" Dean had managed to croak out. Gabriel swallowed and steeled himself,

"Demon Deal. Someone wished for him to be sent to hell. I told him this a week ago. He did not wish for you to know. He however, did leave this for you. He said it might help you understand his actions and maybe forgive him."

Gabriel gave the paper to him, it was creased and torn, a if it had been opened and closed a thousand times, Dean opened it and read it, and read it again, and again, trying to process the words, their meanings, the past half hour of his life, the fact that Cas was dead and in hell and Dean would never see him again,

_Dean,_

_I wish to say so many things to you, but I'm afraid ink can only write so much. You must believe me when I say that I'm sorry. It was never my intention to make you unhappy. I do not regret not telling you sooner. This past week has been a complete bliss. I might not see heaven, but, I'm sure that it cannot be better than the days I've spent with you._   
_What I'm about to say will sound very selfish. I'm very selfish, Dean. I know I shouldn't but, I can't help it. I want you to know even though you already do. So, I'll write it only once,_

_~~I love you~~. ~~I love you so much~~. ~~I will always love you~~. I do not know what to write, what words to choose to convey all that I feel in one sentence. Everything feels incomplete, inadequate, wrong. ~~I'm scared~~ , Dean. I'm sorry. I'm selfish. I love you. Very much. I should tell you to move on, that you have a whole life ahead of you. I'm sorry. I can't._

_Just one more thing, I never told you this, Dean, I could see your soul, when we first met. It is so bright, Dean. You are so bright. I saw your soul and have loved you ever since. I'm sorry. That was twice. I wish you happiness in whichever path you choose. My only regret is that I cannot be by your side. I'm sorry, Dean. ~~I love you~~. ~~I'm scared~~. I'm sorry._

_Yours till the end of time,_

_Castiel._

Oh God, Dean wasn't breathing.


	19. Lucifer Morningstar

John had been lounging on the sofa of the Campbell safe-house when he heard the unmistakable sound of the Impala's engine. John glanced at the clock, 3:37 am. He shut off the TV and poured two glasses of whiskey, waiting for his son to come back to him, head down and apologize for the fool he had been thinking he was in love with some kind of a monster.

All the spells break once the witch itself is dead, After all.

He heard the stomping of angry footsteps on the porch, and wondered, confused, as to what Dean was thinking. If he wanted to apologize, being moody and angry wasn't the way to do it. The door opened and shut with a slam so hard, John heard the rest of the residents of the house wake up and come out of their rooms. John saw Dean come into view just as Sam came out of his room. He froze in his tracks when he saw Dean,

Dean was a complete mess, eyes bloodshot and red, hair everywhere, he was stone cold sober and looked angrier and more depressed than Sam had ever seen him. The worst were the eyes though, The usual bright green Sam had gotten used to the past weeks Dean had spent with him and the Campbells were now dark and dead. His teeth were bared, and when he saw John, he moved so fast, Sam almost couldn't hold him back,

"I'm gonna rip your  _lungs_ out, you sick bastard!" Dean shouted, fighting against the hold his brother had on him. Sam held him tighter, trying to find out what was going on with a sleep-induced brain. Why was Dean out for blood? Why was John just standing there with wide eyes looking like he died from a heart attack? What the hell was going on?

Sam turned Dean around so that the two of them were facing each other, Dean's eyes were seeing but not looking, the fire was still there, tears still flowing like Niagra Falls. For someone like Sam, who had never ever seen his big brother cry, the man in front of him now, all wrecked and ruined, was like a punch to the gut, He held Dean's face in his hands, calling his name again and again till Dean realized who was holding him, Dean fisted Sam's t-shirt in his hands, his arms were shaking, he was shaking, His voice, when he spoke to Sam was small and frightened and not Dean's at all,

"He killed him." Dean spoke, eyes unfocused and glassy, red hot drops rolling down his cheeks and onto Sam's fingers, "He sent Cas to hell."

By the time, Sam registered the words, Gwen and Christian were in the living room too, Taking in the scene, Mark had been taking as many hunts as he could after having been cured and was currently in Ohio. Sam looked over at his father, eyes horrified as he took in the calm exterior the man wore. This man was his dad, Sam thought, This man just killed the one thing that made his son happy. Sam had to force himself to think clearly, to keep his hold on Dean firm and to control himself so that he didn't kill his own father right then and there.

Dean could not bring himself to think, could not even bring himself to breath or function or exist.  _This is what it is going going to be like from now on._ A voice inside his head said,  _You won't live or breath or see, you'll just be there until you're not, until you rot away, and after that, there is just another eternity of the same._

Dean can see glassy blue eyes if he closes his eyes, can see how frightened Cas looked just yesterday, And God, he had been there yesterday. He had been alive and with Dean but now he was not. Every memory felt like a fresh new cut against his heart, the ring on his finger weighed a tonne. He wanted everything to stop, to not be, to disappear, because Why the fuck is everybody else get to live when the most beautiful person in the world does not?

"It might take a while." John said, and his voice trembled, having never seen his son so utterly devastated, he tried to convince himself more than anybody else, "For the spell to wear off, it might take a while."

In one swift motion, Dean was out of his brother's hold and held his father by his neck, John choked, his face going red, a vein clearly pulsing in his forehead,

"There was no spell, you asshole!" Dean growled, voice calm and distant and dead, "He was my husband. You killed my husband and sent him to hell, do you have any idea what I want to do to you?"

Dean had tightened his hold around John's neck in an almost-fatal grip when the doorbell rang.

No body moved. The room froze, There was a knock,

"You know," A voice, British, called out, muffled slightly by the wood but still very clear, "I don't actually need to knock. I am just being polite."

Still when no body moved, The man sighed, this time, from the inside of the house, specifically from behind Dean. The man gripped Dean's arm, the one which was around John's neck, and slightly tugged, Dean, surprised and still not fully there, gave way easily, and the man turned him around so that they were face to face,

"Ah! Dean Winchester, my favorite son-in-law! Not that I have a lot o'em. Just you. But, aren't you a charming man!"

Dean was staring at the guy with wide eyes, He looked like an Italian model, but, it was what he had called Dean that made Dean unable to speak,

"Who the hell are you?!" John yelled, reaching out to push the man away from Dean's space, but, before he could, the man himself marched over behind John, leaving everybody staring and gawking every step he took, He held John by the back of his neck and pulled until his head  _thunked_ into the wall behind them, suddenly, the man was all up in John's face, his eyes red and glowing, John gasped, and would've done more, but his vocal cords weren't working. He moved his lips, but, no sound would come, so, he just stood there, backed up against the wall looking like a scared cat,

" _I_ am Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar."

"As in the Satan?" Lucifer looked over at Christian, who stood there white as a sheet, and smiled brightly, eyes back to their normal coffee-brown,

"Exactly! Aren' t you a smart cookie!" He turned back to John, the smile on his face somehow colder,

"As for you, trying to send my son to hell, eh? What were you thinking, John?" Lucifer's voice was cherry, as if he knew something nobody else did, he snapped his fingers, and suddenly, there was an old piece of parchment floating in mid-air, Everyone watched, dazed, as Lucifer took it in his hands, dangled it in front of John's face as if it were a bone and John was a dog,

"Do you know what this is, Johnny boy?" Lucifer asked, not expecting an answer, he grinned wide and continued, "This is the contract to your demon deal!"

Dean made a move to grab it, but, Lucifer held a finger up and Dean stopped. With one fluid motion, Lucifer threw the paper in the air and it caught itself on fire, "And now it is no more." He whispered in John's face, the other man gulped, said nothing but looked scared for his life.

Hope bloomed in Dean's chest as Lucifer took a step back, surveyed the room,

"Well, the contract has been destroyed, Castiel should be resurrected any moment now. John is, at the moment, not destined for hell, but his fate depends on Castiel himself, wouldn't you agree, Dean?" Lucifer asked, his smile was surprisingly tender as he looked at Dean, but, Dean had stopped listening after the resurrected part. He marched over to where Lucifer was, and grabbed the man by his collar,

"Take me to him. Please." He begged, and Lucifer's smile widened, "Of course."

"Dean!" Both Lucifer and Dean looked over at where John was standing, breathing hard, his voice back, "That's the Devil, you fool! You can't go with him!"

Dean's lips tugged in a small smile, knowing the Cas was going to be okay, that he was going to be alive and with Dean, He saw the man who had killed the only person he had ever truly loved and he felt a cold laugh bubbling up his throat,

"You say it like you're any better." Dean said just as Lucifer touched his shoulder, and in another moment, both of them were in an abandoned warehouse. A very familiar warehouse, Dean realised as he walked through the door and took in the inside, It was the same one where the djinn had trapped him. Of course Cas would choose to die here. There in the back, lay Cas, torn and bloodied, Dean ran, tears springing up his eyes and picked him up, laying his head on his lap,

"Cas... CAas!" Dean held Castiel's face in his hands, saw, enchanted, as the cuts healed themselves one by one, not leaving a scar or a scratch, Dean saw, as Cas took a breath, and coughed, Dean saw, as blue eyes blinked open, and before Cas could register what was happening, Dean was kissing him, again and again, filling the gap between the kisses with  _I love you's_ and  _I'm sorry's._ He felt Cas smile against his lips, felt the  _I love you too's_ and  _It's Okay's_ more than he heard them. 

Dean pulled back enough to see Cas' face, see the blue eyes, sparkling and alive, filled with love and happiness, he traced the red of Cas' lips with his thumb, caressed the skin beneath his eyes. Cas was alive. And that's all that mattered.

"You are a fucking idiot." Dean told him, and Cas laughed, which soon turned into a cough.

"Payback's a bitch." Cas croaked. Dean pulled him to his chest, and that's when Castiel saw the other man.

"Hello." He said simply. Lucifer smiled,

"Hey, kid." Lucifer said and then faltered, what do you say to your son who has never seen you but, who you just brought back to life?

"You're my father." Cas stated. He didn't know how, but, he knew. Lucifer nodded, still unsure but willing to try, he cleared his throat and put a grin on his face,

"Hell yea! And I am taking a vacation in L.A, ya' know, City of Angels and all that."

Dean, having realized, that he had, for the moment, lost his husband's attention, also turned to look at Lucifer, who was incredibly bad at hiding his nervousness. Lucifer cleared his throat, and looked at Cas,

"What do you want to do about John Winchester?"

"Nothing." Cas said before Dean could even think about his dad, much less say anything, he looked at Cas with wide eyes,

"Nothing?" Dean echoed, Cas smiled at him and nodded,

"Yes. In his own way, he was trying to protect you. And I can never begrudge that."

Dean opened his mouth and closed it, not knowing what to say. There were a million thoughts roaming around his head, a million feelings trying to crush his soul, so he just shut his mouth and kissed Cas, that stupid selfless idiot that Dean had married.

"You are an idiot."

"Only when it comes to you."

Lucifer smiled, and vanished. Not before planting his business card in Castiel's pocket.

"...Cas?" Dean spoke, voice small and muffled where his face was buried in the crook of his husband's neck.

"Yes, Dean?" Dean looked back up at Cas, it was weird. When Cas had died, it was almost as if Dean hadn't believed it, hadn't come to terms with it, almost as if he hadn't completely registered the fact that Cas was gone. Now that Cas was back, Dean couldn't believe that Cas was here, couldn't believe that Dean was getting another chance, more days, and now that he knew what it was like to lose Cas, even for hours, it didn't matter that they would be together in heaven, Dean wasn't going to take anymore chances.

"Let's quit hunting." Castiel grinned, imagining what it would be like, to live with Dean without a small voice telling him that it could be his last day. He kissed Dean again, and again,

"We could get a house." Dean murmured between long kisses, and Cas  _hmm_ ed his assent, "Get jobs, be normal people." Cas pulled away, still grinning,

"That sounds nice." Dean grinned back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will probably be a bit of an Epilogue as a second part. Bu, for now, 
> 
> AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY THE FUCK AFTER!


End file.
